Clash of the Neo Sannin
by Benjy122
Summary: When Pain invades Konoha, Danzo stages a coup d'etat against Tsunade. Three years later, Sakura and the Rookie 9 plan to invade Konoha to eliminate Danzo. As they plan, Sakura and the group recieve unexpected visitors: Sasuke Uchiha and Danzo himself.
1. Chapter 1, Sakura and the Council

**C****HAPTER**** O****NE**** – I****NVASION**

Sakura Haruno placed her right hand above her left hand and allowed both hands to hover slightly above the abdomen of the wounded ninja. Concentrating, Sakura released a steady stream of chakra and began to assess the gash's severity. The wound's deeper than expected, Sakura thought. His stomach is pierced. Hydrochloric acid has spilt into the bloodstream and poisoned his blood. Dialysis needs to be performed, but the acid needs to be contained before the internal bleeding and other wounds can be treated.

Sakura reached for the container beside her that was full of a brown, viscous liquid that was replete with enzymes, proteins, and progenitor cells. She opened her left hand and touched the surface of the liquid. Molding her chakra into an adhesive, she pulled up the liquid from the container and gave it a round shape until it looked like she had a large bubble underneath her hand. She then directed the liquid over the ninja's abdomen, and using her chakra as a guiding force, made the liquid bypass via osmosis the skin, the abdominal muscles, the blood vessels and nerves, and once the liquid reached its destination and permeated into the internal digestive organs, Sakura used the liquid as a medium to pull and direct the hydrochloric acid back inside the stomach's cavity. Her hands extended the medical liquid over the rest of the stomach, and with great precision, began to stimulate rapid mitotic cell division to repair the punctured tissue. She restored the internal and external layers of the stomach, and strengthened the stomach's outer muscle. Ordering one of the assistants to insert an apparatus in the ninja's veins to remove the poisoned blood, Sakura then began to target specific bones with her chakra as the machine pumped out his blood. She placed her hands over the ninja's breast bone, and then moved to his humerus and shoulder blade bones, his hip bone, his femurs, and—realizing it was necessary because of his excessive blood poisoning—she targeted his vertebrae. She infused her chakra deep into the bone marrow, the red marrow, so the ninja's body could produce new red blood cells. The poisonous blood was soon removed from his circulatory system and Sakura healed the other digestive organs. She stopped his internal bleeding. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. The other medical ninjas could attend to his minor lesions and contusions.

Turning around, Sakura saw over fifty wounded ninjas spread out on cots. Thankfully, she had been able to attend most of them and all were out of immediate danger. The half-dozen medical ninjas under her command were in a hectic buzz removing bandages, cleaning bed pans, and operating on minor wounds. Sakura's left hand cupped her right arm's elbow. She wished her comrades had a state-of-the-art hospital like in Konohagakure, but the large, brown-green tarpaulin tent was the best they could manage.

Sakura walked out of the hospital tent. She heard the peaceful chirping of birds overhead, and in spite of it being summer, Sakura was spared the brooding heat. She was inside the heart of a dense forest and was flanked on all sides by trees that rose as high as the eye could see. Few blades of yellow sunlight managed to pierce the trees' thick foliage, but those rare sun rays that did manage to touch the earth revealed a verdant ground suffused with all kinds of wild vegetation, from beautiful and rare flowers that Sakura never knew existed, to the most malign weeds that continually dilapidated the skin's epidermis if left untreated.

There was a small, dry clearing with an arroyo nearby. Sakura headed toward it and once there, she scooped up the clear, fresh water in her hands and splashed her face, hoping that the water's coolness would help wake her. She was tired. Her limbs felt heavy and her eyes yearned for sleep. Medical jutsu consumed massive amounts of chakra and it drained her, especially since she had just operated successively on forty-two ninjas with fatal wounds, and though she felt she could still push herself even further, Sakura knew she needed to conserve and reserve chakra in case she had to engage in unexpected battle. Kneeling by the creek, Sakura closed her eyes and focused. She began to direct her unused chakra from her legs, abdomen, chest, arms, and other parts of her body. Finally, as she opened her eyes and gazed at her reflection in the stream, she saw the diamond-shaped seal on her forehead glowing in azure refulgence as the visible concentrated blue rivulets of unemployed chakra zigzagged inside the diamond. The diamond's glow receded and became Tyrian purple when she completed sealing her chakra inside. _Souzou-Saisei_, Sakura thought. Though she had never used it, it was the last jutsu her sensei, Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin and Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, had taught her. Sakura continued to look at her reflection in the stream and she touched the diamond seal with the tips of her fingers. So much had changed in three years. Her hair was now as long as it used to be when she had trained as a Genin under Kakashi, and her green eyes had hardness to them that didn't exist before. Her body was now a voluptuous hourglass figure that reflected her nineteen years of age, and she had achieved a level of beauty that had long surpassed her sensei's, but that fact held absolutely no comfort. She had become a woman far from the home she loved and now lived in permanent exile.

Sakura felt the presence of someone approaching.

"Sakura," a young man said.

Sakura turned her head and looked over her shoulder. It was Shikamaru Nara. He too had changed in the past three years. He had continued to grow taller and his skin had become dark because he was constantly under the sun. He had a more muscular, athletic physique than before, rounder shoulders and pronounced arm muscles. His was now a body of a man that reflected constant engagement in ninja battles. But perhaps the greatest change, Sakura thought, was the thick scar that protruded from his left temple down to the corner of his left eye and dipped up in a crescent shape in the middle of his cheek. It was Danzo's parting gift when Shikamaru openly defied his orders.

"The council is gathering," Shikamaru said. "How is everyone?"

"Stable. All ninjas will pull through."

Sakura got up, wiped away the loose grass and dirt from her knees, and as she walked past Shikamaru, Shikamaru touched Sakura's elbow and pulled her in close to him.

"I know that you're more than capable of defending yourself, but I don't want you wandering alone anymore. That ambush on our squad was no accident. We have a mole."

Sakura looked into Shikamaru's eyes and saw fear, an emotion she rarely saw him express.

"Who is it?" she asked.

Shikamaru let go of Sakura's elbow and took out a cigarette pack from one of the pockets of his brown flak jacket. He lit the cigarette's end and took a long drag.

"No idea," he said, exhaling smoke through his nostrils. Smoke curled carelessly and lethargically around him. "But I'll find the bastard. We're not going to lose people this time."

They had been betrayed before with devastating consequences. Both looked into each other's eyes and read each other's thoughts: Choji. Ino. If they had known that infiltrating a minor Konohagakure base was a trap, Sakura and Shikamaru would've never sent them on the mission. Choji and Ino never returned.

Both walked down the arroyo and soon came across a vast clearing. Trees had been removed and there was wave after wave of tent roofs. Children ran around playing shinobi wars made out of dried tree branches, the women did their laundry in the creek, and several men were returning after hunting down game in the woods. There were close to three thousand people there. They were displaced and homeless because of the war: it was a refugee camp.

When Sakura and Shikamaru entered the camp's borders, the children immediately ran to them.

"Sakura-sama!" the girls called out. "Could you please show us how to look beautiful?"

"Shikamaru-sama!" the boys encircled him, "have you fought today?" They tugged at his rugged arms and clamored for a story. Their faces were smudged with the rich forest earth. In spite of their mother's best efforts, their clothes were soiled by grass stains. The parents soon caught wind of Sakura and Shikamaru's return, and the quickly began to call back their children.

Sakura and Shikamaru walked to the largest tarp in the center of the camp. They entered.

"They're finally here," Temari said.

Sakura entered behind Shikamaru. The tent was full of people. Shino, Neji, Ten-Ten, and Kiba were in attendance. Seats were arranged in a circle and each shinobi was seated in one of the chairs. Behind the seats were ninjas that had defected from Konohagakure.

Sakura assumed her seat and the council meeting began.

"What's the situation in Kumogakure?" Kiba asked.

Shikamaru took out a scroll and with a quick flick of his hand, the scroll rolled across the ground. It was a map that showed the Five Great Nations of the shinobi world, and several arrows obtruded from the Land of Fire into the surrounding four nations.

"Danzo began his military campaign into Kumogakure twenty-six days ago, but he has yet to penetrate Raikage's defenses. He was expecting reinforcements from Kirigakure after the Hyuga Clan conquered the Land of Water, but it appears Kisame arrived in his village six days ago. Kisame has prevented the Hyuga from crossing the ocean and invading Kumogakure from the south. Also, I can't confirm if the rumors are true, but it's believed Danzo himself engaged with the Eight-Tailed Beast."

"Killer Bee?" Ten-Ten asked.

"Yes," Shikamaru said.

"I hear he's the greatest swordsman in all of the Five Nations," Ten-Ten said. "Kumogakure's refugees constantly tell of his exploits and power. Is Danzo dead?" She intoned her question with hope.

"No," Shikamaru said. "Danzo was able to keep up. He put Killer Bee in check."

Sakura's green eyes turned to the map on the floor. It would take a lot more than that to take Danzo down, Sakura thought. She had experienced firsthand the raw power of his swordsmanship. Pain had invaded Konohagakure, had left a giant crater in the middle of the village, but her master had been able to save everyone. As Naruto battled Pain, Danzo and his ANBU ninjas attacked Tsunade. The ANBU ninjas set a parameter around them and formed a seal that didn't allow Gamakichi to escape with Tsunade. Sakura did her best and was able to take out three of Danzo's ANBU ninjas on her own, but when she launched her attack at Danzo, Danzo easily countered her every move with effortless grace. "Stupid girl," Danzo said, "out of my way." He never removed the sheath from his sword, but in a brief display of swordsmanship that Sakura had never fathomed possible, she felt successive blows all over her body. She was unable to counter even one of his hits. She saw from the floor, with limbs in pain and bones broken into pieces, as Danzo killed Tsunade.

"On the other side," Shikamaru pointed to the southern side of Konoha in the map, "Iwakagure has proven to be the thorn on Danzo's side. He invaded the Land of Earth first, but Konoha has yet to establish complete control over Iwakagure's populace."

"This is all interesting," Neji said, "but why did you ask us to come?"

Shikamaru got serious. He sat down in his chair, interlaced his fingers together, and placed his mouth behind them. "Konoha's troops are spread thin all over the ninja world," he said, "and all of the ninja nations are engaged fighting Konoha's ninjas on their own soil, but if there is ever a moment to invade and rescue Hanabi, that moment is now. Without the Hyuga's support, Danzo loses his most powerful military branch and this war may finally turn against him."

Sakura saw Neji's face remain expressionless, but his fists were tightly clenched, and he had unconsciously activated his Byakugan. He was still unable to forgive himself. Neji had stayed behind after Sakura fled half dead from Konoha. No one really knew Danzo's true intentions then. With the Elders' support, Danzo ascended as Rokudaime Hokage. At that point, only Sakura knew the truth—that Tsunade had been murdered by Danzo's hands—but the whole village had assumed Pain had been the culprit. Why wouldn't he be? Sarutobi and Minato had sacrificed their lives to save the village from invasion, so it was assumed Pain targeted Konoha's seating Hokage. Danzo convincingly played his cards well and eulogized Tsunade's brave efforts against Pain at her funeral, but his plans for the future of Konoha soon became apparent. As Rokudaime Hokage, Danzo exploited and nurtured the division within the Hyuga family branches, but Hiashi saw through Danzo's plans and refused to allow the Hyuga to become the Hokage's pawns. Neji blamed himself, but no one in Konoha would have thought that a Hokage would have taken it upon himself to personally kill the head member of the Hyuga Clan. With Hinata missing after she left Konoha to find Naruto, the main family branch's heir, Hanabi Hyuga, become a prisoner in the Hokage's palace. She was the future of the clan, the only viable link to keep the main branch going, and since no one knew if Hinata lived, none of the Hyuga dared oppose Danzo. Neji attempted to rescue Hanabi and for his efforts, he was banished and the Hyuga Clan, who was worried about Hanabi's well-being, disavowed him.

"When will we go?" Neji asked.


	2. Chapter 2, Sakura, Nanadaime Hokage?

**Chapter Two**

**Sakura, Nanadaime Hokage?**

The Council heard Temari's audible scoff.

"That's your plan? To rescue Hanabi?" Temari said.

Sakura saw Shikamaru steal a furtive glance in her direction before turning to Temari. Shikamaru and Temari had already had many falling outs, and it was usually Sakura who mediated between them. In the Council, there wasn't a leader for all were equal, but as Tsunade's disciple, Sakura's opinions and words weighed heavily. She was the "First among Equals." Shikamaru's brilliance and strategies had kept their small force one step ahead from Danzo's ANBU forces, so his opinions weighed just as heavily. However, the refugees had not left their homes for Shikamaru—they had left because of Sakura. Many did not agree with Danzo's military and expansionist policies, and others had problems with the culture Danzo was fostering within. Sakura was their viable alternative. At first, Sakura was surprised when civilians sought her and asked her to be their leader. Not wanting to be alone, she assume the leadership of the first dozen citizens who pledged their loyalty to her and to Tsunade's teachings, but through word of mouth and eventual mythologizing of her name, more and more former citizens of Konoha—and eventually of other ninja nations as well—found their way to her refugee camp. They believed in peace, in Tsuande's and the fomer Hokages' teachings. Sakura, to them, became their living link to that past.

"We shouldn't just rescue Hanabi and pray that the tide of war will change when the Hyuga leave Danzo's ranks," Temari said. "If we're going to Konoha, I say we take it all—all of it."

Shikamaru said nothing. Sakura could see that he didn't want to incite her, though it was apparent he disagreed.

"Forgive me, Temari-san," Lee said, "but Konoha's defenses are the best in the world. We only have three hundred ninjas—we can't possibly take on Konoha with our small numbers."

"Shikamaru just said that Konoha's armies are spread thin—"

"And what would do you propose we do once we're there?" Neji cut in. "What do you think the village will say and do when we charge in and take over the place? How long do you think we'll be able to hold it before Danzo and his armies return?"

Temari bit her lower lip. She was trying to keep it from trembling.

"You know, Neji," she said, "I would expect that rhetoric from Shikamaru, but never from you."

"Temari," Shikamaru said, "whether we like it or not, Danzo was legitimately chosen to be Hokage by the Elders and the village. Orochimaru attacked our village, you remember? You were there. And three years later, Pain attacked. The people just want peace, stability."

"But what about _our_ peace, _our_ stability?"

Shikamaru sighed.

"If we invade Konoha and attempt a coup," Shikamaru said, "we're no better than Danzo. We'll lose our moral standing."

"Moral standing?" Temari said, standing up from her chair. "Moral standing?" She looked at everyone's faces and walked to the center of the room, stepping over the map of the Five Great Nations. She didn't raise her voice, but her eyes narrowed, her speech slowed, and her words were cold. "Konoha lost its moral standing a long time ago," Temari said. She pointed to the map, to every single line that delineated military campaigns that spread from the Land of Fire to the surrounding nations. "I'm with you—all of you. If you want to go to Konoha and rescue Hanabi, I'll put my life on the line just like every single one of you, but I think it's time that all of you accept that the Konoha you knew, the Konoha you loved, is gone. We're living in a different world now, and it's about time all of you accept it."

Temari walked back to her chair and resumed her seat.

There was silence.

Sakura shifted in her seat. She understood Temari. She knew that the world she had grown up in had changed, that the constant war had hardened people's hearts and minds in ways she never deemed possible. Brother killing brother, husband killing wife, mother killing her own children: such news had become terribly commonplace, and all acts were committed without the slightest modicum of remorse or guilt. Perhaps it was wrong of her to try and cover the sun with a finger—life in the refugee camp was hard; people suffered and managed to eke out a meager living through serious deprivations, but in spite of it all, Sakura heard the laughter and saw the smiles on people's faces. They were happy. In a world full of despair and hopelessness, they were happy. She tried her best to put in practice Tsunade's teachings, to govern with justice and equality and freedom, but with War and Death constantly around them, how long would their peace last?

"If we invade Konoha," Shino said, "we condemn our clans to death."

Sakura turned to the map. Arrows were colored and displayed where the different clans were deployed. Danzo utilized every clan's ability to his advantage. He sent them to specific territories around the ninja world where their unique abilities could be maximized. However, if Sakura and the group invaded Konoha, they would have to interrupt Konoha's lines of communication and Danzo would be forced to cut supply lines to the troops in order to retake Konoha. Incommunicado, the clans would have to fend for themselves inside hostile enemy territory without reinforcements, food, or directions on how to proceed. They would be forced to retreat, and like any unplanned and hasty retreat, their chances of escape would be limited, and their chances of survival would be close to nil.

Sakura looked up at those who belonged to clans: Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, and Shino Aburame. Would they allow their relatives' lives to hang in a tenuous thread for their beliefs and ideology?

"Then that's a sacrifice you need to make," Temari said.

Kiba, Neji, and Shino glared at Temari.

"I will not condemn the Hyuga to death!" Neji said. The faces of the others stated the same sentiment.

Temari looked down at the map. She crossed her legs and neatly folded her hands over her knees.

"You will not condemn your clan to death," Temari said, looking up at Neji, "yet, you have no problem allowing your clans to kill in the name of Konoha."

"I don't need to hear this," Kiba said. Akamaru barked as well.

"No," Temari said, "you will hear me. When Konoha invaded my country, my two brothers fought for her sovereignty. I lost both, but I'm proud that they died honorably defending our country. Sunagakure could not have asked for more from them. I understand the rules of war, and it still pains me that my country was a pawn in Orochimaru's plans to destroy Konoha, but Sunagakure was honorable in her invasion. We attacked your shinobi, never your citizens. But what I saw when Konoha invaded Sunagakure was an abomination. Your Genins are being forged on the battlefield and have no respect or value for human life. Danzo has perverted how a shinobi should be. But I was lucky: I was a ninja. I could defend myself. Other women, unfortunately, could not."

"I will not stand idle while Konoha's name is mired in filth!" Neji said, standing up. He fully activated his Byakugan.

"Whether you like it or not, your clans have raped, pillaged, and burned everything in their path with no regard for anyone's life except their own."

Neji's fists were visibly full of chakra. His hands trembled, but he was restrained by Shikamaru's _Kagemane no jutsu_.

"And you know what the worst part is," Temari said, "all of you know it. All of you know it's true, but you refuse to believe it." She turned her face and ran her hand underneath her eye. "What are we doing? Seriously? I joined your group to fight Danzo, to establish peace between Konoha and Sunagakure, but instead we sit and we wait for the possibility that one day Naruto might return."

"Naruto _is_ coming back," Sakura said.

The Council turned their attention toward her. She hadn't said anything during the altercation because she agreed with both sides. She hated what Konoha had become under Danzo's rule, but she still couldn't bring herself to fight her own countrymen.

"Naruto," Sakura said, "has saved Konoha many times. Because of him, we were able to get Tsunade-sama as Godaime Hokage. Because of him, we were able to fight and defeat the Akatsuki. And because of him, Pain was defeated before he could completely destroy Konoha. Naruto promised me that after he defeated Uchiha Madara, he would return. I trust his word, his promise. And when he does come back, we'll return to Konoha together and Danzo will get his comeuppance. Naruto will become Nanadaime Hokage. I believe in that, and so should all of you."

The Council resumed their silence. Shikamaru was the first to speak.

"Sakura," he said, "he's been gone for three years."

"Then we'll wait three more."

Temari stood up and walked to Sakura's side.

"Naruto saved Gaara-sama from himself and from Akatsuki," Temari said. "I can never thank him enough, but the truth is Sakura, with every day that passes, with every day that we stay here and only fight to survive, Danzo gets a stronger grip on the ninja world. People are dying every day while we wait for a man that hasn't been seen in three years. It's only a matter of time before all the nations fall. And if that happens, I'm sorry to say it, but no amount of power, not even the Naruto's power, will be enough to stop Danzo."

"Even if we invade," Shino said, "there's no guarantee we'll have Konoha's support."

"Shino's right," Shikamaru said. "War has brought unprecedented prosperity to Konoha. People may not agree with Danzo's military policies, but they have no problems forcing trade and reaping the rewards of indentured servitude from conquered nations. If we invade, will people be willing to sacrifice their possessions?"

"That's not our only problem," Ten-Ten said, "we need to convince the Elders and Konoha's Council that our cause is just, that Danzo isn't suited to be Hokage. We need someone that can challenge Danzo's leadership."

"Shikamaru," Temari said, turning to him, "you and I don't meet eye to eye on many things, but your intelligence is second to no other. You should become Hokage."

Shikamaru's eyes stared into empty space. He became pensive.

"No," he said. "I don't have the raw power to defend Konoha from outside invasions." Shikamaru's eyes darted to Neji, Kiba, and Shino. "And it would be unwise to stir the envy of other clans within the village if a member of the Nara Clan became Hokage. Danzo wouldn't hesitate to use the internal clan politics against us. No, we need someone who has a legitimate claim to be Hokage, someone who has a direct line to all the previous Hokages so nobody can protest the choice."

All eyes came to rest upon Sakura.

"It's Naruto's dream to become Hokage," Sakura said, "not mine."

"Sakura," Kiba said, "Tsunade-sama was your master, and because of that, you are a contender for Hokage. Shodaime and Nidaime trained Sandaime Hokage. Sandaime trained the great Sannin, and Jiraya-sama trained Yondaime Hokage. As Godaime's student, you're the only person in this room that has a right to challenge Danzo to become Hokage."

"Naruto was trained by Jiraya-sama and is Yondaime Hokage's son. He has a greater right than I'll ever have to become Hokage."

"But Naruto isn't here," Temari said.

"Sakura-chan," Lee said, stepping forward, "in these past three years I've seen you grow as a shinobi. I've never seen anyone grow as a ninja as fast as you. All of us in this room are in our prime. It's time for everyone to behold the power of our youth and prove to Danzo who we are!"

"Lee, I'm not strong enough to fight Danzo."

"Don't worry Sakura-chan," Lee said, "that's why we're here."

"Tch," Shikamaru muttered.

"What?" Temari said.

"Nothing," Shikamaru replied.

"It's okay," Sakura said, "you can say it."

Shikamaru shot a glance at Temari.

"I'd rather not," he said.

Sakura sighed.

"Shikamaru brings up a good point."

"What? I didn't say anything?"

"But I know what you mean," Sakura said. "I may be stronger than when I left Konoha, but that doesn't take away the fact that I'm nineteen," Sakura gave a facetious look to Shikamaru, "and that I'm a girl."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ten-Ten and Temari exclaimed together, their eyes threateningly glaring at Shikamaru.

"Having me as Hokage is an open invitation for foreign nations to invade," Sakura said.

"Tsunade-sama was a woman," Ten-Ten said.

"Yes," Sakura said, "but Tsunade-sama had already been battle-tested. She gained her reputation in the great ninja wars, and Salamander Hanzou told of her abilities to all the great nations. And after she became Hokage, the ninja world knew that Jiraya-sama visited her and the village. Who would dare invade Konoha when two of the great Sannin were there to protect her? It's no coincidence that after Jiraya-sama's death, Danzo felt at liberty to stage his coup. I love my master, but she had her limitations. As do I."

"Very well said, Sakura," Shikamaru said, "but there is one problem with your assessment: you surpassed Tsunade-sama a long time ago. You defeated Konan and Zetsu by yourself."

"But only after all of you had battled and exhausted them," Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan," Lee said, "everyone's here because we believe in the teachings of Sandaime and Godaime Hokage. We know you're strong. I wouldn't dare try to convince you if I thought otherwise, but you're a lot stronger than you know. I've opened six of the eight inner gates and you've been able to keep up. Sakura, you might not know it, but we do: you're ready."

Everyone in the Council looked at one another. Decisions were usually reached by consensus, but for the first time, Sakura held the power to decide the fate of her friends in her hands.

"What is the probability we'll succeed?" Sakura looked at Shikamaru.

"Honestly, close to nothing. But if we convince our clans to turn to our side, and we manage to get the Elders and the people of Konoha to our side, we have a good shot of success."

"What of outside invasion?"

"If this invasion's successful," Temari said, "I'll head to Sunagakure immediately. As daughter of Yondaime Kazekage and sister to Godaime Kazekage, I'll become Rokudaime Kazekage and I'll pledge to you my support when you become Nanadaime Hokage. Together, Konoha and Sunagakure should be strong enough to repel any outside invasion."

Sakura nodded. She accepted Temari's offer.

"Are all of you prepared to do this?" Sakura asked everyone in the room. There was no hesitation. "Then so be it. Shikamaru, make a plan to invade Konoha. We'll be heading off at the end of the month."


	3. Chapter 3, Sparring

**Chapter III **

After the Council meeting was over, Sakura left the refugee camp and went into the forest. She came upon an abrupt demarcation where the trees ended and a river began. At the other side of the river, there was rich vegetation that reached the height of her waist, but what Sakura loved were the spider lilies. There was a field of flowers across the river. Sakura had taken the pains to plant them there. They were a constant reminder of the day when she left Konoha. After Danzo killed Tsunade, he immediately took over the ninja's operations. He ordered Konoha's perimeters secured and also ordered any and all ninjas to kill Naruto on sight.

"What do we do about this one?" one of the ANBU ninjas asked. He was kneeling next to Danzo.

"Kill her," Danzo said. Danzo left for the Hokage's palace.

Sakura lay helplessly on the floor, completely at the mercy of her aggressor. The ANBU ninja withdrew a kunai, and just as he was about to strike, a hand stopped him.

"I'll get rid of her," the voice said. "You go protect Danzo-sama. The Nine-Tails is still at large and poses a threat to him and the village."

The masked ninja looked up at the person holding his hand. Sakura couldn't get a view of who it was, but the ANBU ninja obeyed. He withdrew his hand and the kunai. He turned around and disappeared.

From the corner of her eyes, Sakura saw the shadowy figure approach and she finally caught sight of his face. He was smiling. There were wrinkles in the corners of his eyes.

"Sai," Sakura said.

He picked her up, placed her arm around his neck, and lifted her.

"Sai," Sakura said, "Danzo, he—"

"You don't have to tell me, Sakura," Sai said. "I know."

Sakura's eyes widened. She understood.

"I'm not going to kill you," he told her.

Sakura felt Sai draw chakra to his feet, and bending his knees to draw force, he leapt into the air. High in the air and wind in ears, Sakura saw the panoramic view of the gargantuan crater in the middle of the village. Naruto, she thought. Tears came to her eyes.

"I need to go to the Hokage palace," Sakura said.

"Impossible," Sai said. "Danzo's going there."

They landed at the edge of the crater and Sakura felt Sai land carefully for her benefit. She was in excruciating pain, but she was already healing her wounds internally. It would take two days for her bones to fully recover. Sai bent his knees and springing his legs and feet, they were in the air again.

"Tsunade-sama is dead and Shizune too," Sakura said. "Tsunade-sama knew that Akatsuki might invade, and she left me in charge to keep Konoha's top secret information out of Danzo's hands if she or Shizune were compromised."

"Where did she leave the information?" Sai asked.

Sakura looked down at the zooming ground. They landed once again. Could she trust him? Sakura looked into Sai's expressionless black eyes. Up in the air, she turned to him and told him of Tsunade's secret vault where she kept Konoha's top secret information.

They reached Konoha's border gate and after cautiously placing Sakura on the ground, Sai took out his scroll and drew an eagle. With his ninja skill, he summoned it forth. He also drew snakes, and after giving them animation, he ordered them to wrap around Sakura's body.

"They'll help keep your bones in place so you can heal faster," he told her. He lifted her and placed her on the eagle's back.

"I want you to have this," Sai said. He gave Sakura his dagger and placed it in the fold of her hand. "I'm sorry, Sakura. For everything. And I'm sorry I will not be able to help you or Naruto get Sasuke back, but this weapon will help you in your mission. Conflict will be inevitable with him, but I've created a new jutsu that will help counter his Kusanagi sword. Stay at the outhouse until I send you Tsunade's information."

Sakura saw Sai take a few steps back and the eagle began to flap its large wings. With a gust of wind, it was off in the air.

Sakura lay on her back watching the blue sky. It never looked so beautiful, so peaceful to her, but she wept. She wept for her master, for Konoha, for the uncertainty of her future, and for all that she was leaving behind.

She arrived at the outhouse and she slept that afternoon and evening. At night, she heard a large rat's squeaking when it entered the outhouse. After screaming hysterically as she curled in terror in a corner, she saw that it was one of Sai's ink animals. She sighed in relief. Her arms were healed enough to allow some motion. She broke through Sai's snakes and when she touched the huge rat, it disappeared and turned into a large scroll. She opened it and saw a seal. Placing her hand on top of it, she released the seal and a copious amount of scrolls and books appeared around her. They filled the whole outhouse from floor to ceiling. Sai, Sakura thought, you gave me all of Konoha's top secret documents. You've wiped out all of the information from Danzo's hands. Sakura looked down at her hand where the seal used to be and she saw a notebook. It was the notebook Kabuto had given them a long time ago. It had intelligence on all of Akatsuki's members. Underneath the notebook was a box. Opening it, Sakura saw that it was full of tags that had written characters that said, "Lightning," "Water," "Earth," "Wind," and "Fire." Inside the box was a letter as well written in Sai's own hand. They were instructions on how to use his dagger with the tags, and they had illustrated characters on how to practice using the weapon.

Sai, Sakura thought. She put the box down and wept.

Sakura took out Sai's dagger. She hadn't seen him since that day three years ago, and she only hoped he was still alive. The spider lilies were in full bloom. She didn't want to destroy any of them, but she needed to hone her skills with Sai's weapon. She wrapped a tag that said "Wind" around the dagger's handle, and placing it firmly in her right hand, she began to release chakra. The dagger began to glow and a light breeze began to emerge from it. She fully extended her right arm in front of her and pointed the dagger's blade to the last spider lily in sight. She slashed the dagger in the air. A strong gust of wind blew across the river, across the field of spider lilies, and in less than a second, the petals of the spider lily were up in the air. The flower was sliced in two.

Sakura placed the dagger back into its sheath. As she placed the dagger on the back of her belt, a dragonfly flew past her. She carefully looked at it with her green eyes and remembered what Tsunade had once told her when a dragonfly entered her office one summer afternoon.

"These creatures," Tsuande said while she poured herself another sake drink, "have compound eyes. They are excellent at detecting motion, and because their eyes are wired into their nervous system and body, they have lightning-fast reflexes. It doesn't matter how fast an object is, they can see it coming. That's why you can try to swat at them as much as you want," Tsunade said, as Shizune went around trying to kill it with a flyswatter, "but they see you coming. Your efforts are transparent to them. All human movements can _never_ be faster than the compound eye." Tsunade finished her drink and poured herself another one.

"It's like the Sharingan," Sakura said.

"Eh?" Tsunade said. Her face was flushed. "Yes, I suppose. But the Sharingan is still just a human eye. It can be deceived. The compound eye reads all incoming movement. Even the Fourth Hokage's technique would look slow to the dragonfly."

After Sai helped Sakura escape, Sakura studied the dragonfly for months afterwards. A lot of the books that Sai had sent from Tsunade's vault her were books that contained hidden secrets of forbidden medical jutsu. After the Third Hokage confronted Orochimaru and Orochimaru fled from Konoha, the Third Hokage kept many of his notes when Orochimaru had conducted human experiments. Sakura never ventured or tried to master anything that was beyond her ethics, but she did learn theoretically how to reanimate the dead, bring the dead to the living, and change the capabilities of her body. After training with Lee and learning how to expand her chakra system based on the eight chakra gates, Sakura pushed the limits of her ocular, nervous, and muscular systems. She sharpened the vision of her eyes. She learned how to send chakra to them, to dilate them so she could view a sharper image, calculate the distance between her and an opponent, and she also learned to send her chakra to her retina to create multiple set of mirrors so her eyes could function like compound eyes. Movements that were fast and beyond her vision became slower. She pushed the limits of her nervous system as well. She strongly wired her optic nerves to the nerves down her vertebrae and limbs so when her eyes and brain registered an approaching object, her body would instinctively and mechanically adjust and escape at lightning-fast speed. She had pushed the limits of her body, and she knew that she was shortening her lifespan because of it. Normally, her sight and body would begin their noticeable decline and failure while in her fifties, but Sakura knew that by the time she reached her forties, her vision would start to fail and her reflexes would be that of a woman in her late sixties. But she didn't have time to think. There were too many people counting on her and now with the invasion of Konoha, she needed to be at her best.

"You're getting good with that," Shikamaru said.

Sakura turned around and she saw Shikamaru walking toward her with Neji and Lee.

"I'm not as good as you with your brass knuckles."

"You're getting there," Shikamaru said.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru, Neji, and Lee exchanged glances.

"Sakura," Neji started, "we understand that—"

"Sakura-chan," Lee sliced through, stepping forward, touching Sakura's arm, "Danzo is an exceptional ninja. If we're going to invade, we need a ninja that can stand up to him, or at best, prove that they are at Danzo's level to protect Konoha."

Sakura turned her eyes to Shikamaru.

"I just heard from my source that Danzo is returning to Konoha," Shikamaru said. "He needs to come up with a better strategy now that Kisame is fighting for his village. Danzo will be back in Konoha in a couple of days."

"Sakura," Neji said, "Shikamaru proposed that all of our shinobi protect you as we invade Konoha. We have enough people and power to reach the Hokage palace, but once we get there, you will have to face Danzo alone."

"We'll have casualties and be exhausted," Lee said, "so we won't be able to help you in your fight."

"I can't fight Danzo alone," Sakura said.

"That's why we're here," Shikamaru said.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"All three of us are going to come at you at once," Shikamaru said. "And we're not going to hold back. If you can defeat all of us, you're ready to face Danzo."


	4. Chapter 4, The Prisoner

**Chapter IV – The Prisoner**

Sakura Haruno assumed her fighting stance. Her green eyes carefully surveyed her three opponents: Neji Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, and Rock Lee. Lee can only use taijutsu, Sakura thought, so he'll be the one engaging in close combat. Neji has both close and mid-range attacks, so he can come at me like Lee or hold back and attack at mid-distance. Shikamaru specializes in long range attacks, and as the leader, he'll keep his distance and call the shots from there. Either way I look at it, I'll have my hands full with each and every one of them. I can't let my guard down, not even for an instant. Together, they have a solid and deadly combination of close to long range jutsus. Think, Sakura, think. You have to incapacitate one quickly or else you'll be a goner. Shikamaru will be the one communicating the different strategies, and if I try to take him out first, Lee and Neji will protect him at all costs. I can't possibly take him out first then. Lee's the one who'll do the heavy fighting, and if I incapacitate him first, that'll leave Neji and Shikamaru. No, I can't take out Lee first. Neji and Shikamaru are capable of great insight. Neji will use his Byakugan and Shikamaru his intelligence. Both of them will gauge my skills and speed if I concentrate on Lee first and they'll immediately come up with a contingency plan. If I take out Neji first, that'll leave me mid range territory to maneuver between Lee and Shikamaru.

Sakura moved her eyes to Lee. Let them believe I'll take out Lee first, then make a quick move toward Neji. It's my only chance. Tsunade-sama, wherever you are, please guide me.

"Are you ready, Sakura-chan?" Lee asked.

"_Hai_," Sakura responded.

Lee removed the weights from his feet and left a small crater on either side of his feet.

"_Hachimon Tonkou_!" Lee cried as he began to open six of the eight chakra gates.

The whole earth around Sakura trembled. Lee's chakra was becoming visible, and as it began to fill the air, the birds—feeling the imminent battle—began to fly away. Sakura shot a quick glance to her side. Neji assumed the Gentle fist style stance, and Shikamaru knelt one of his knees, quickly formed his seals, and was ready to strike with his shadow possession jutsu.

Sakura sent chakra to her eyes. Her vision began to fracture into multiple smaller, octagonal mirrors. She created artificial compound eyes. Her eyes could now take macro, nanosecond shots of every single movement her opponents took before, during, and after their attack. She had taken Tsunade's teaching to a whole new level. It was her trump card. Neither of her three friends knew she had developed such jutsu.

The earth around Lee broke into a large crater. He opened six gates. His whole person was surrounded in a green aura of chakra. The veins on his temples pulsated, his face was completely flushed in red, and gritting his teeth, Lee charged at Sakura at full strength.

Sakura's eyes immediately began to work, taking a shot by shot frame of Lee's incoming attack. He's fast! Sakura thought. Her eyes were just able to see his incoming attack. He was charging at her, leaving a deep, wide furrow of fire and earth behind him. Clenching her fist, Sakura thrust her arm forward and met Lee's own fist that was full of flames: fist met fist, knuckle clashed against knuckle, inhuman strength collided against inhuman strength. The impact created a powerful thunderclap that resonated all over the woods and made the ground tremble with seismic activity. But Sakura was still stronger. Just barely. She had sent chakra to her feet and glued herself to the ground. The sheer impact sent Lee flying back. Sakura's eyes quickly caught sight of Neji moving to her right side. He's fast, she thought, but he's not faster than Lee. She quickly saw Shikamaru's shadow coming at her. Shikamaru fanned his shadow out into multiple tendrils, covering a wider range. Sakura quickly turned her eyes to Lee. He was already coming back. All three of them were almost in perfect sync. Neji and Lee had timed their attacks perfectly. Sakura was going to have to defend herself simultaneously from Lee and Neji. She had had less than two seconds to parry their attacks before Shikamaru's shadow arrived.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Sakura built up chakra into her left forearm and leg, and with her right hand, she carefully molded her open hand into a chakra scalpel.

"_Konoha Gōriki Senpū_!"

"_Hakke Kūshō_!"

Sakura met the full impact of Lee and Neji's simultaneous attacks. She blocked perfectly their blows—her forearm and knee parried Lee's fiery kick coming directly in front of her, and her open palm's chakra blade clashed with Neji's chakra on her right side—but she could tell that they were trying to use the attacks' impact to push her back into Shikamaru's shadow possession jutsu. Such power, Sakura thought. The earth surrounding her became immediate dust. Dust particles rose in the air. Sakura was using the monstrous strength she had inherited from Tsunade to its fullest potential. The two ninjas could not make her budge. She had less than a second to move or else she would be caught in Shikamaru's jutsu. The multiple shadow threads converged into one. The shadow blade was coming now, closer, closer, closer…

"_Shānnarō_!"

Sakura used her strength and pushed Neji and Lee away. She sent them hurling hundreds of meters away.

Sending chakra to her feet, Sakura propelled herself and jumped high into the air. Shikamaru's singular shadow blade immediately divided into threads.

It's like when I fought alongside Chiyo against Sasori, Sakura thought. Shikamaru had pushed his shadow possession jutsu to a new level and split his shadows into hair-thin threads. The needle-thin shadows were flying up in the air zipping toward her, trying to catch her. He only needs one—just one—thread to touch me, Sakura thought, and it's over.

Sakura contorted her body in unimaginable ways, almost as if she had no bones, as each thread zipped past her. When she had battled Sasori, she had been inexperienced, but now she could see through Shikamaru's incoming jutsu attack. She had finally mastered like Chiyo the power of perception.

Contorting her body carefully and just so, she took out a kunai with a tag that had the kanji "light" on it. She threw it at the base of the shadow technique and an immediate explosion of light dispelled Shikamaru's shadows around her.

Lee was already on her right side.

They battled in the air. The sounds of fist meeting fist, leg clashing against forearm, and knee banging against an open palm made the air heavy with the sounds of an unrelenting thunderstorm though it was a clear blue sky. Every second, there were multiple booms in the air.

"_Asa Kujaku_!"

Sakura's eyes widened. He's fast! Terribly fast! Her eyes could barely keep up. She was blocking the multiple, repetitive hits, but Lee's blows were beginning to take their toll. His fiery fists were now burning her. Sakura could smell the singed flesh coming from her forearms and fists. She blocked the pain receptors in her brain, and was sending chakra to heal her wounds, but her body couldn't keep up with the inflicting damage.

One of Lee's fists hit her on the corner of her mouth, breaking her jaw, busting and splitting her lip, blood spewing forth, but Sakura succeeding in parrying Lee's succeeding jabs. Lee's last punch, which he had been kinetically building up, was too strong. His strength temporarily overwhelmed hers. The last blow sent her flying down to the ground.

Falling, Sakura immediately turned her gaze down at the two opponents on the ground. Neji had assumed his fighting stance. She was falling into his Divination Circle. Shikamaru's shadow possession technique was going towards her shadow. Her eyes looked up again at Lee. He was also coming down at her, emblazed with fire like a falling meteor. They had timed their attacks perfectly this time. They were in perfect sync. She could see their collective attacks, but there was no way out. She was falling. Gravity and the force of Lee's blow were pushing her down. She didn't have time to land and try to escape.

Sakura wiped the blood from her jaw with her right thumb. She ran the blood down her forearm. She would just be able to make it on time.

She landed.

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

Lee, Neji, and Shikamaru landed their attacks simultaneously.

"Huh?" Katsuyu said.

The large slug queen felt the power and impact of the jutsus of the three ninjas. She was unfazed.

"What's going on?" Katsuyu said.

"Where did she go?" Neji asked Shikamaru.

"She went inside Katsuyu," Shikamaru replied.

Lee landed on the ground. He dispelled the Eight Gates Jutsu. He had reached his limit. Lee breathed hard as his protruding, pulsating veins on his temple regained normalcy.

"Sakura-chan," Lee said, smiling. He was out of contention. He had given his best, his all, but he needed to rest. It was now all up to Neji and Shikamaru.

Katsuyu looked around and moved its massive head toward Neji. Shikamaru immediately did the same. Shikamaru had possessed Katsuyu, but he could not control her. Shikamaru dispelled his jutsu.

Katsuyu's antennae moved around, as if it were listening to someone. It said, "_Hai_," and immediately began to divide itself. Hundreds of clones began to fan out as the large, singular slug divided into many. The clones began to surround the three men.

"Keep your guard up!" Shikamaru cried out to Lee and Neji. "She's hiding inside one of the clones!"

As the clones surrounded each of the shinobi, each ninja attempted to maintain their distance. Neji struck several clones with his Gentle Fist style as he retreated, but his blows were ineffective. Though Neji wasn't in Konoha when Pain invaded, he had heard that Katsuyu had surrounded every Konoha ninja and—in combination with Tsunde's power—had withstood the impact of Pain's _Shinra Tensei_. Neji had nothing in his arsenal that could possibly be as powerful.

The clones stopped moving.

"Neji," Shikamaru said, "what do you see?"

"The clones," Neji said, "they're suppressing their chakra. How is this possible?"

"Damn it," Shikamaru said. "As long as we're here, we are in danger."

"What do you suggest, Shikamaru?" Lee said.

"Normally we'd retreat to higher ground," Shikamaru said, looking around, keeping his guard up, "to avoid any human loss. But this isn't a normal battle. We must finish it together."

Lee grimaced and fell to his knees.

"Lee!" Neji said.

"I'm okay, Neji," Lee replied. "It's just the after effects of the chakra gates. I'm at 60% right now."

"Neji," Shikamaru said, "can you change your Byakugan's sight? You can see the internal chakra network, but since the clones are suppressing it, change your sight to see if any of the clones are molding chakra. Lee hit Sakura. She must be healing herself inside one of the clones."

"Right," Neji said. His eyes focused, the veins around his eyes protruded even more. "Found her!"

"Where?"

"There!" Neji pointed to a clone in the far distance.

Shikamaru released his shadow toward the clone Neji pointed to.

"Huh?" Shikamaru said. The clone began to glow. Then the one behind Shikamaru began to glow as well. It was a strange pattern: a slug clone glowed, the light then receded, and then another clone began to glow.

"What's going on?" Lee said.

Shikamaru looked at all the clones around him. They were glowing, but why? What kind of jutsu had Sakura developed? One of the slugs, next to Shikamaru's left hand, began to glow and he saw a seal underneath the slug's belly before it stopped glowing and the glow transferred to a clone next to Lee. Shikamaru immediately understood.

"Lee, behind you!"

Lee turned around and saw Sakura behind him, fist tightly clenched, ready to strike. Lee did a roundhouse kick and struck Sakura in the face. Sakura's body exploded in a puff of smoke and a log fell in place of her body's.

"_Kawarimi no Jutsu_?" Lee said, shocked at the use of such a simple technique.

"Neji!" Shikamaru screamed. I thought she would go after Lee, Shikamaru thought, in his weakened state.

All of the surrounding slug clones around Neji began to glow. Kunais began to fly out of the clones, from multiple directions.

Neji, seeing the incoming projectiles with his eyes, began to spin.

"_Hakkeshō Kaiten!_"

All of the kunais bounced off Neji's divine whirl, but as they bounced off, the kunais—which had tags on them—began to explode. Thick dust enveloped Neji. Shikamaru and Lee were incapable of seeing what was happening inside the dust cloud.

Suddenly, Sakura emerged, falling back, yelling in pain.

You got her, Neji, Shikamaru thought.

Sakura fell on her back, flipped over, and turned toward Lee to attack. She began to engage with him, but since Lee was not at 100%, when he attempted to punch her, Sakura took hold of his fist, turned him around, and with a karate chop, struck Lee behind his neck.

Neji emerged from the cloud of dust and charged toward Sakura. Sakura made chakra blades with her hands to counter Neji's Gentle Fist style. They fought: chakra burning against chakra.

Shikamaru ran toward Neji and Sakura.

What? Sakura thought as her eyes stole a furtive glance at Shikamaru. He's coming to engage in close battle?

The glance cost her. Neji, seeing an opening, struck Sakura with a powerful jab on her chest. Sakura screamed. Angry, she clasped Neji's hand before he removed it, twisting it, breaking it, and she was about to strike Neji with her fist, Sakura saw one of Shikamaru's iron knuckles zip past her and strike her shadow that was right behind her.

"What?" Sakura said, suddenly unable to move, fist in mid air, an inch away from Neji's face.

Neji released himself from Sakura's grip and took several steps back. He held his right forearm and winced in pain.

Shikamaru knelt and extended his shadow toward Sakura. He connected his jutsu.

"Lee," Shikamaru said, "are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Lee said. He was lying on the ground, unable to move. "She paralyzed my nervous system when she hit the back of my neck. I'm in pain, but I've felt worse. I'm okay."

Sakura's whole body began to convulse.

"I got a direct hit," Neji said. "I hit your heart, Sakura. You're in cardiac arrest."

Sakura's green eyes glared at Neji and Shikamaru.

"I-I th-thought you-u we-weren't going t-to h-hold back-ck," Sakura said.

"We won't," Shikamaru said. He put his hands together, did another series of seals, and his shadow formed multiple tendrils. Rising around Sakura, they came down and struck Sakura like swords. Blood splattered everywhere. Sakura screamed.

"It's over," Shikamaru said.

Sakura's head shook, but she raised it and looked directly into Shikamaru's eyes. She smiled. She was in Shikamaru's shadow possession jutsu, and when he had completed his seals, Sakura's body had no choice but to involuntarily do the same. Her hands were still together. She immediately took the chance and did _her _seals.

"What?" Shikamaru said. She was over powering him _and_ his jutsu with her sheer raw strength.

Shikamaru read Sakura's seals. Genjutsu? he thought. He turned to face Neji and he saw that Neji's whole body was frozen.

Sakura began to run toward Shikamaru, fist in air. Shikamaru began to do the same.

Fuck, he thought. She's overpowering me! How can she still have her strength? If I'm hit, it's over!

Shikamaru was forced to dispel his shadow possession jutsu. When he did so, Sakura reached for a kunai and threw it at him. Shikamaru jumped back to avoid it. When he was airborne, Sakura smeared the blood on her forearms and touched one of Katsuyu's clones.

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Shikamaru grimaced. He took out his brass knuckle. He turned around, and just as he expected, Sakura emerged from one of the slug clones behind him.

The brass knuckle and Sakura's sword—the one Sai had given her—clashed.

"Clever girl," Shikamaru said.

"You saw through everything?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, though too late."

Both shinobis applied pressure to their weapons.

"Why don't you make your move?" Shikamaru said. "You can easily overpower me. You've applied the wind element to your blade, and with your strength, you can slice through my brass knuckle and kill me."

Sakura gazed intently at Shikamaru's face.

"Why don't you make yours?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru smiled.

Behind Sakura, several shadow tendrils were poised to attack, ready to decapitate her.

Rivulets of blood continued to pour down Sakura's arms and legs, but all her wounds were rapidly closing. The diamond seal on Sakura's forehead was glowing.

"So how did I fare?" she asked.

"Tsunade-sama would've been proud. You've truly mastered the art of deception. Genjutsu targets the shinobi through the five senses. The Uchiha's Sharingan is notorious for casting Genjutsu through sight, and the Sound Village is renowned for using sound. But in our battle, you never used any kind of gas so I knew you hadn't targeted any of us through smell. We hadn't eaten anything made by you, so there was no use to worry about Genjutsu through taste. But when Neji hit your heart, you grabbed his hand. I should've known better, but since Genjutsu cast by touch is rare, you gambled everything you had on it. You knew that in all my battles, I've never encountered that kind of Genjutsu.

"Somehow you knew I was coming at you to engage in close battle, but you deliberately let Neji think you had let your guard down so he could hit your heart. That's when you began to cast your Genjutsu through touch. And when you asked if I was holding back, you must've used internal medical jutsu to send an electrical impulse to your heart to stop the cardiac arrest and regain your normal heart beat. You allowed yourself to get possessed by my shadow jutsu so when I cast my seals, you could finish casting the Genjutsu on Neji with your own seals. You've also mastered a technique similar to the Fourth's, but instead of using tags, you're using a reverse _kuchiyose_ to transfer in between Katsuyu's clones. You've yet to perfect it, though. It's slower than the Fourth's and it's obvious to any shinobi to which clone you're transferring based on the slug's glow. But the first time you summoned Katsuyu—before it divided—you must've released a portion of your chakra from your seal. Even before I hit you with my shadows, you were already healing yourself, preparing your body for the impact—that's why you still had full use of your strength and were able to overpower my shadow possession jutsu. With Neji paralyzed with Genjutsu and Lee incapacitated, you were now free to attack me. And now, here we are."

"I expected no less from you," Sakura said. "So tell me, how is this going to end?"

"There are ten scenarios worked out in my mind. One of them is you winning."

"And the other nine?"

"I win, but it would end in a Phyrric victory: I would be able to kill you, but you would kill me as well."

"So I only have a 10% chance of winning against Danzo."

"Just like we have a 10% chance of being victorious in our invasion."

Sakura and Shikamaru both ceased attacking each other. Shikamaru dispelled his jutsu.

"_Kai_!" Sakura said, releasing her Genjutsu.

Neji came to.

"What happened?" Neji said. Shikamaru walked up to him, patted his back, and smiled. He began to explain.

"Sakura-sama," Katsuyu said, "do you still need me?"

Sakura told her no, and in an instant, all of the slug clones disappeared. Sakura walked up to Lee, knelt next to him, placed her right palm behind his neck, and after a green glow emanated from her hand, Lee began to regain his movement.

"How are you doing?"

"No, Sakura-chan," Lee said, "how are _you_ doing?" He looked at the corner of Sakura's jaw. His eyes were almost in tears. He was feeling guilty for punching the love of his life.

Sakura brushed Lee's concern away with a kick flick of her hand.

After Sakura healed Neji, all four ninjas began to walk back to the camp. They ran into Shino.

"Sakura, Shikamaru, Lee, we have caught an intruder. It's important you come immediately."

"Who is it?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's best if you see him yourself," Shino said.

All five ninjas walked to the tent in the middle of the camp ground. Sakura was the last to enter.

When Sakura walked in, she saw Ten-Ten, Kiba, Temari, and a slew of shinobis surrounding the prisoner. He had his head down. Around his arms and legs, he was restrained by iron bars from Ten-Ten's special weapon repertoire. The iron bars even had seals to further restrain him. Shino's bugs also flew around the prisoner, orbiting him in a circular motion, sucking away his chakra.

When Sakura walked closer, the prisoner began to move.

"I've been waiting for you," he said.

That voice, Sakura thought.

The prisoner raised his head and looked at Sakura. He smiled. There were wrinkles in the corner of his eyes.

"Sai," Sakura said.


	5. Chapter 5, Sasuke Uchiha

**Chapter V – Sasuke Uchiha**

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru demanded. "How did you find us?"

Sai continued to smile.

"I came here to speak with Sakura," Sai said. "Alone."

"Whatever you have to say," Lee said, "you can tell it in front of us. There are no secrets between any of us."

Sai ceased smiling.

"Then I suggest we speak in private," Sai said.

Shikamaru eyed Sai carefully. He ordered the rest of the lesser ninjas to leave.

Sai turned to Ten-Ten and smiled again.

"Could you please set up a barrier?"

Ten-Ten scowled.

"Do as he says," Shikamaru said.

Ten-Ten reluctantly took out a scroll, laid it on the ground, and after a series of hand seals, she constructed a powerful barrier. The tent's walls glowed in blue and pink refulgence, and even the ground seemed to be on fire.

"Why are you here?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sakura," Sai said, "I'm glad you have done well."

"Sai," Sakura said, "I thought Danzo had killed you."

"No," Sai said, "I told him you gave me the slip. He didn't fully believe me, but because he fought you himself and he saw that you were on the same level as some of his ANBU nijas, he accepted my lie. But he punished me. Harshly. And he ceased trusting me. I was removed from his inner circle and my movements have been restricted within Konoha for years. Since the war started, Danzo-sama placed me as the personal bodyguard for Homura-sama and Koharu-sama as they rule Konoha in his stead while Danzo-sama goes off in military campaigns. I would love to talk to you some more, but I don't have time. I'm here on Homura-sama and Koharu-sama's request."

"The Village Elders?" Neji asked. "What do they want?"

Sai smiled again.

"They want Sakura to become Hokage."

All of the ninjas were stunned.

"You lie!" Temari cried.

Sai looked at Sakura.

"Sakura, you know I'm not good at lying. It's true: the Elders want you to be Hokage."

"Why?" Shikamaru asked skeptically.

"When Danzo-sama started the war against the other nations, the Council was with him. They knew what could come from such a war: Konoha now has unprecedented prosperity, but Danzo-sama has proven to be a selfish leader. He refuses to let the Council have a say in anything outside of Konoha's affairs. And even then, the Council's voice is limited in what they can say and do. Anyone who speaks against Danzo-sama is killed. Danzo-sama has methodically stripped away Homura-sama and Koharu-sama's standing and power within the village. The Elders believe that a Hokage should be firm and powerful, but they don't believe a Hokage should have absolute power."

Shikamaru scratched his chin.

"So," he said, "the Elders have unleashed the tiger and they now see that they can't ride the beast."

Sakura saw a slight twitch in Sai's face. He was annoyed.

"Yes," Sai responded. "You're absolutely correct."

"How do we know what you are saying is true and not a trap?" Sakura asked, stepping forward.

Sai looked deep into Sakura's eyes.

"Because you know me," Sai said. "And I still believe in Naruto, just like you. I'm still waiting, like you, for Naruto to come back. I trust he will defeat Madara, and when he does, I trust he will get Sasuke back and become Hokage and put an end to all these wars."

Sakura looked down at the ground. She believed Sai. She remembered how he risked his life to save her during Pain's invasion. And because of him, she had the necessary information on Akatsuki. She would've never been able to defeat Konan and Zetsu had it not been for Orochimaru's notebook. She owed her life to Sai many times over.

Sakura looked up at Sai again and noticed that Sai's body had changed.

"To negotiate," Sai said, "Homura-sama and Koharu-sama sent me with a gift so you can trust their word. And the second gift is personal. It's a warning: leave this place. You have three days."

"What's that supposed to mean," Kiba asked.

Sai smiled.

"Sai," Sakura said, "thank you."

Sakura took out Sai's dagger from the sheath on her lower back, walked up to Sai and slit his throat.

"Sakura!" some of the ninjas cried out in unison.

Instead of blood, black ink began to pour out. Sakura placed her hand underneath Sai's neck and suddenly the body exploded. There was a large pool of ink and Sakura took out a large envelope.

"How is it possible?" Shino said incredulously. "He was sealed by Ten-Ten's weapons and my insects never detected when he gave us the slip."

"How could he have escaped my barrier?" Ten-Ten cried as well.

"Sai has become a very powerful ninja," Sakura said. "We have to be creative when we confront Danzo's special ANBU forces from now on." Sakura began to open the envelope. Tucked within were several papers that displayed all of Danzo's ANBU bodyguards. Profiles. Each profile stated the ninja's rank and what jutsus each ninja was capable of doing. Sakura kneaded her forehead. It was déjà vu for her again.

Sakura gave the profiles to Shikamaru.

"So they're serious," he said after he perused the first two profiles.

"Very," Sakura replied.

"Shino, Lee, Ten-Ten, all of you, please inform everyone in the camp that we're relocating. Our location has been compromised," Sakura said.

Ten-Ten removed the barrier, and all of the ninjas left save for Shikamaru and Sakura.

Shikamaru was angry. He kicked a chair and sent it hurling across to the opposite end.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"My informant," Shikamaru said, tears welling in his eyes, "he's the mole. I thought I could trust him. Now I see that Danzo's not going back to Konoha like my informant told me, Danzo's intention was always to come here to kill us all. Fuck! How could I have been so blind! I placed us all in danger!"

Shikamaru slammed his fist against one of the tent's pillars.

"May I ask who your informant is?" Sakura said.

Tears were now running down Shikamaru's face. He sniffled.

"My father," Shikamaru said.

Two days later, on the morning of the second day after Sai left, Sakura was helping several of the refugees pack their belongings. Most of the tents were already packed, and save for some of the minor provisions, all of the refugees were ready to relocate.

They would travel by night. Sakura, Ten-Ten, and Temari would construct a barrier around the people as they traveled because of Konoha's tracking ninjas. They didn't want to leave a scent or any kind of trace that the ninjas could use to find them. If they fled at night, by dawn there would be enough distance between the camp and their new location to escape even the power of the Byakugan.

After Sakura was done helping people pack, she started to play with some of the children. Many of them were maimed: they had missing eyes, burnt arms, missing legs, and the majority had terrible psychological traumas. They were the orphans of war. She had cared for them, healed them, tried to nurture them the best she could, and had learned to love them like they were her own children. But there were some things she could not help them overcome. Sometimes, at night, while on patrol, she would hear the children waking up in the middle of the night, crying, screaming in actual and psychological pain as they relived the horrors they had faced while Konoha's ninjas invaded their villages. She tried to comfort them, but some grew resentful at her, some even attempted to kill her when they found out that she was from Konoha. It was an uphill battle to try to gain the children's trust. She wanted to help as best she could. She didn't want Danzo's wars to create another Pain, another Konan, Haku, or Sasuke. She sometimes felt that she was trying to cover the sun with her index finger, but whenever she saw a child smile, whenever she saw that happiness could exists in such misery, she knew that her efforts were worth it.

Sakura met with the Council to go over the last details of the escape route. They ate and shared funny stories. It was moments like these that Sakura actually forgot that there was an outside world. She was with her friends, with people who believed what she believed, and she gave herself the luxury—if only momentarily—of reverting to being a nineteen year old with no responsibilities.

As they were eating their food, laughing, one of Shino's bugs hovered in front of him. He lifted his index finger and the bug landed on it. Shino listened to it.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Neji!" Shino cried, voice full of worry, "check to see what's coming from 4 o'clock!"

"Why?" Neji asked.

"Do it!" Shino said.

"_Byakugan_!" Neji said. His eyes looked in the distance.

"They're here!" Neji cried. "The army is here!"

"What!"

All of the ninjas rose from the table.

"Danzo is with them! There are about one-thousand shinobi! All of the clans are with him!"

"Fuck!" Shikamaru cried. "Everyone get all of the ninjas available: we will confront Danzo. Sakura, Ten-Ten, evacuate the civilians. I don't want any of them involved in any of this."

"No," Sakura said. "I'm fighting."

Shikamaru grabbed Sakura's forearm and pulled her close to him. He lowered his voice to note the seriousness of his tone, "Danzo is here because he knows that you're a threat to him. We can't hand you over. If Danzo's here, wasting his time and resources to engage with us, that means he knows the Elders are plotting against him. He can quarantine them all he wants, but he knows the Elders have to power to oppose him and appoint a new Hokage. As long as you're alive, you're a viable candidate for Hokage. You're the reason he's here and we're not going to let him have you."

"I'm not the only one who can be Hokage," Sakura said. "You know that."

Shikamaru looked away.

"If Naruto hasn't come back in three years, that can only mean one thing: Madara defeated him."

"How dare you!" Sakura cried. "Naruto would never lose!"

"We can't have this discussion now, Sakura. Without Naruto, you're the only one that can stop Danzo. We must presume he's dead. Sakura, please, get the people out here. Get them as far away as possible. Danzo is ruthless: he _will_ kill them all for defecting. Once you have created enough distance, we will retreat."

"Shikamaru, it's three to one. You need all the help you can get."

"I know, Sakura. I know. But if we have to give our lives so you can survive, so all of these people can live, then so be it. As long as you're alive, Tsunade-sama's legacy continues to live." Shikamaru turned away and assumed his command. All of the ninjas were already standing before him. "Everyone, get ready!" Shikamaru shouted. "We have the advantage! We know the terrain and we will use it against the enemy! Listen closely to my plan for I will only say it once!"

"Fine," Sakura said, walking up to Shikamaru. "I will evacuate everyone, but I will help all of you through Katsuyu."

"Thank you, Sakura," Shikamaru said.

Sakura walked away from the group of ninjas, withdrew Sai's sword and slit her thumb. She ran her blood down her forearm and placed her hand on the ground.

"_Kuchiyose no jutsu_!"

Katsuyu appeared with a loud puff of smoke.

"Hello, Sakura-sama," Katsuyu said. "Are we sparring again?"

"No," Sakura said. "This time, it's the real thing. I want you to attach yourself to every ninja here. The moment a ninja gets injured, take my chakra so I can heal him."

"Right," Katsuyu said. It began to disperse into multiple clones. Sakura picked up one of the slug clones and placed it on her shoulder.

"Shikamaru," Sakura said, "use Katsuyu to keep me informed."

Shikamaru nodded and waved his hand. He continued telling his plan to the group of ninjas. Sakura looked at the three-hundred ninjas about to square off against Danzo's one-thousand shinobis. She knew that some of them would not return. It had to be that way against such odds. But she would be damned if she didn't do something about it and reduced as much as possible the casualties.

Ten-Ten had already gathered the civilians into a circle. She told Sakura that she would take the front while Sakura took the rear, guarding them just in case they had unexpected confrontations with Danzo's army. They began to leave the camp ground. The refugees did not run—Sakura and Ten-Ten did not want to create pandemonium—but they walked in a hurried pace. Sakura and Ten-Ten guarded them from above, jumping from tree to tree, making sure that none of the people got out of the circle and kept moving at the established place.

"How are things coming along?" Sakura asked the Katsuyu clone on her shoulder.

"Shikamaru's using the hill to his advantage. Danzo's army is coming uphill and they are giving them a hard time. The Hyuga clan is protecting the armies with their Divine Circle, though."

Sakura tightened her fist. The Hyugas were going to be a thorn on Shikamaru's side.

"Let me know the moment a ninja is injured so I can start healing him," Sakura said.

"Right," Katsuyu said.

Sakura continued to move from tree to tree. They were at a good distance now when Katsuyu suddenly said, "Danzo's forces are now up the hill. They're engaging in close combat."

Sakura began to channel her chakra into Katsuyu's clone. There was one injured. A gash across his leg. Two injured. One of the Nara's clans was strangling him. Three. Four. Sixteen. Forty-two. Eighty-seven. One-hundred ninety five.

Shit! Sakura thought. Tears were welling in her eyes. They're being slaughtered!

Sakura continued to concentrate her chakra into Katsuyu while all the while she looked down at the people. They were sacrificing themselves to save this community. These people had already been through enough—they couldn't go through more.

Sakura landed on a large tree branch and when she did, she suddenly felt it—a large source of chakra, sinister chakra. She began to look around. Where was it coming from? She began to have goosebumps in her arms. She shivered. She rubbed her arms. Why, this chakra is more sinister than the Kyubi's, Sakura thought.

"Sakura," Ten-Ten called out, "what's wrong?" Ten-Ten went to Sakura, put her arm over her shoulder, and then, all of a sudden, she felt the evil presence as well.

"What is this?" Ten-Ten said.

"I don't know," Sakura said. "But it's nearby. Get the people out of here. I'll deal with it."

"But Sakura," Ten-Ten protested.

"Do it now!" Sakura said. "We've already lost six ninjas! I'm not going to lose anymore!"

Ten-Ten nodded and resumed her position at the front of the people.

Sakura went to the ground. She saw the people passing by, carrying their provisions, children crying that they were tired, that they had already walked for so long and that their feet were hurting. Sakura was turning around in circles. Where was the chakra coming from?

And then she saw them. At the other side of the people. The sunlight peeled back the shadows of the four people. There was a ninja with a long sword behind his back, with razor sharp teeth. There was also another who was tall and looked menacing, but strangely enough, had a placid, harmless look on his face. A kuniochi with glasses. And in the center, she saw him. His black hair was longer now, it reached his collar bone, and he was taller and more muscular than the last time she had seen him in Orochimaru's lair.

"Sasuke," Sakura said.

"Sakura," Sasuke replied.

In between them, the refugees continued to pass by.


	6. Chapter 6, Sakura versus Suigetsu

**Chapter VI – Sakura versus Suigetsu**

It took a moment for Sakura to realize that Sasuke wasn't an illusion, he was actually moving, walking toward her. She didn't even feel or hear Katsuyu say that she was going to hide in her pocket because she sensed the imminent battle. Moments passed, and by then, the last of the people had already left under Ten-Ten's guidance. She continued to stare, completely confounded, until Sasuke took out a kunai, twirled it in his fingers and threw it at her. The kunai zipped past her ear, cutting a lock from her pink hair.

Sakura snapped out of her trance.

"What's the meaning of this, Sasuke?" Sakura demanded, eyeing the four-member team. "Is this merely coincidence, or is this an ambush?"

"I was hoping it would be a reunion," Sasuke said.

Sasuke's expressionless face remained nonchalant, cold, distant, but the kuniochi beside him noted something amiss that Sakura failed to see. The kuniochi fidgeted next to him.

"Sasuke, why are you looking at her like that!" she yelled at his ear.

"'Cuz unlike you, Karin," the sharp-toothed ninja said, stepping forward, "she has tits. And pretty good ones at that." The ninja raised an eyebrow in interest as he lasciviously eyed Sakura from head to toe.

"Shut your hole, Suigetsu!" Karin cried. She slapped Suigetsu hard across his face, but his face exploded into water. Gradually, Suigetsu's face regained its form. He grinned.

"Truth hurts, doesn't it?" Suigetsu said in a mocking tone.

"Enough, both of you," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes. "We have guests."

Sasuke raised his hand.

Sakura assumed her fighting stance. She heard the sharp _chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_ sound as Sasuke gathered lightning into the palm of his hand. He made a jab in the air, and four lightning blades flashed in a blink of an eye toward Sakura.

Sakura heard a sound like watermelons breaking open, succeeded by sharp cries of pain. She didn't bother look up. She didn't have to. Sakura knew that Sasuke had pinned four of Konoha's ninjas on the trees above her with the Chidori blades protruding from his hand. By the sound of the pierced flesh, she surmised Sasuke had aimed for their hearts.

Sakura gathered chakra into her own hand, formed a chakra scalpel, and, looking directly into Sasuke's eyes, told him, "You forgot one."

Sakura stepped aside and a ninja emerged from the earth where she had just stood. With a quick karate chop, Sakura hit the ninja's throat. Immediately, the ninja grabbed his throat and fell to the ground. He writhed in pain. His throat gurgled as he tried to breathe. He had a mask. An assassination squad, Sakura thought. Danzo knows that I'm not with Shikamaru and the others. Damn it, this is getting too complicated. Ten-Ten, I trust you will protect the people if they get past me.

From the corner of her eye, Sakura saw that the ninja had stopped moving. He was dead.

"So," Sasuke said, releasing his jutsu, letting the ninja corpses behind Sakura fall to the ground in a sickening thud, "you're the little kuniochi who has plunged Konoha into civil war."

"What do you want?" Sakura said.

"I was expecting a warmer welcome," Sasuke said. "I just got four ANBU ninjas off your back, and it has been three years since we have seen each other last."

"And if I remember correctly," Sakura replied, "you showed no hesitation to kill me or Naruto."

Sasuke blinked his eyes.

"And if I remember correctly," Sasuke said, "our last meeting before that you pledged your undying love for me."

Sakura took out Sai's dagger.

"Don't fuck around with me!" Sakura retorted. "You being here is no coincidence! Why are you here?!"

Sasuke ignored Sakura. He looked up at the sky. Several birds were flying east.

"Still impatient and irascible," Sasuke said. He turned his head and faced west. "Your friends, your little pseudo village of shinobi, they're fighting in that direction?"

Sakura tightened her grip over her dagger.

"What. Do. You. Want?"

Sasuke turned and faced Sakura. His face, Sakura noted, somehow didn't coincide with the sinister chakra emanating from him. He reeked of evil, yet his face still had a placid innocence of a child to it.

"I want what you want," Sasuke said. "Danzo's head."

Sakura relaxed her fighting stance and lowered Sai's blade to a non-confrontational pose. She looked carefully at Sasuke and then eyed the other three ninjas next to him. The sharp-toothed ninja, Suigetsu, appeared more interested in getting into her pants than engaging in combat, the kuniochi, Karin, hovered around Sasuke like a bitch in heat, and the last ninja, who had yet to say a word, seemed more concerned with the rabbit hidden behind the tree than in their unfolding conversation. No doubt about it, Sakura thought, Sasuke's calling the shots.

Sakura turned her eyes to Sasuke. So this is it, Sakura thought. She remembered how over the last three years Shikamaru taught her how to play shougi. When they played the game together, it wasn't the actual game they were playing: Shikamaru had taught her how to build her critical thinking skills, how to come up with tactics, and how to read people and their intentions. Sakura looked at her present situation and realized that Sasuke had the advantage, and all odds were in his favor, but for some apparent reason, was holding back. She did not know any of the abilities of any of the ninjas that accompanied him, save that Suigetsu was a water ninja, presumably from Kirigakure, and if he was wielding Zabuza's sword, then he must be at a high jounin level. And if he was at jounin level, then it was safe to assume the other two ninjas were at the same level as well.

Sakura had not seen Sasuke since their encounter in Orochimaru's lair, but she assumed he was already at Itachi's level, if not more advanced. She realized that she not only was outnumbered, but she was also terribly outmatched. If all four came at her at once, she could put up a good fight, perhaps kill one—at best, two—of Sasuke's ninjas, but in the end she would die. But Sasuke was hesitating. Unlike last time, he wasn't attacking her. He wanted something, or needed something. What that was, she did not know, but she needed to find out if she intended to survive.

"If you want Danzo," Sakura said, "he's here. He's three miles west from here."

Sasuke shifted his stance.

"I will not stop you," Sakura said.

"My team and I will kill everyone in sight."

Sakura didn't change her expression. She didn't want Sasuke to read her thoughts. She could use Katsuyu to tell Shikamaru and the others to retreat, but she didn't know how Shikamaru and the others would react to Sasuke killing all of their clan family members. If Shikamaru and the others stayed, they would be forced to fight Sasuke, Sasuke's team, and Danzo and his army. As it was, two-hundred and eighteen ninjas were already injured and twenty-six were already dead.

Sakura continued to channel her chakra into Katsuyu.

She realized what was unfolding before her was a test—a vital, pivotal test. With Sasuke now in the foray, many more lives were at risk, and her decision, her ability to negotiate with Sasuke, would determine how many would live, and how many could possibly die.

"No," Sakura said. "I can keep Danzo's army at bay while you take on Danzo alone. Once he's dead, the clans will no longer fight. They only fight out of loyalty to the Hokage."

Sasuke blinked again.

"I have no intention of doing that," Sasuke said. "I _will_ kill everyone in sight."

Sasuke began to walk toward her. Step by step he came closer and closer. Sakura restrained herself from showing any emotion. His chakra instilled fear in her, but she couldn't show it. He was trying to intimidate her, break her, but if she was truly the disciple of Tsunade, she would show no fear.

Sakura felt Sasuke walk behind her. Then she felt his bare arm graze her own. His flesh, it was so cold.

"Then you leave me no choice but to fight you," Sakura said.

Karin burst out laughing.

"You, fight us!" Karin cried out laughing. "Bitch, who are you trying to fool? Your chakra level is at the same level as a genin straight out of the ninja academy. Sasuke could kill you with one finger."

"Karin," Sasuke said, "you shouldn't let your jealousy blind you."

"What?" Karin cried. "She's got nothing! Her chakra is pathetic, it—" Karin stopped talking mid-sentence and her jaw dropped. "Her ch-chakra," she stammered, "it doesn't seem like she has much because she's channeling it into that nasty bug inside her pocket!"

"Katsuyu," Sasuke said. "And it's not a bug. It's a slug."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke.

"I know about your master and her pet," Sasuke said. "Orochimaru loathed her and vowed to rip her from limb to limb and bathe in her blood—after he swore to ravage her, of course." Sasuke paused. "I never believed the ravaging part."

Did Sakura see a small smile in the corner of Sasuke's mouth?

Sasuke walked back to his group.

"So you're healing your little ninja group as we speak. It must be driving the old fart mad that your group of ninjas never seem to die."

"Sasuke," Sakura said, "what do you want?"

"I told you, I want Danzo's—"

"No," Sakura sliced through, "what do you _really_ want? Cut the bullshit. Get to the point."

It was unmistakable this time: Sasuke smiled.

Karin pulled and bit her hair as she saw Sasuke and Sakura's pas de deux.

"Like I said, all I want is a reunion. I want to know how your life has been these past few years. We have to catch up," Sasuke said. He then turned to Suigetsu and said, "Suigetsu, kill her."

Suigetsu cracked his knuckles. "Finally," he said, "some action."

Sakura assumed her fighting stance. So finding out why he's here isn't going to be easy, Sakura thought. I'll have to earn it. At least he's giving me a fighting chance. No, he wants to gauge my abilities. If that's the case, then I have to end this fight as quickly as possible.

Suigetsu smiled from ear to ear as he unfastened Zabuza's sword.

Sakura eyed the sword. She needed information from this ninja and his abilities.

"Are you one of Zabuza's students?" Sakura asked.

"No," Suigetsu said, "I wasn't pretty enough." He let the sword crash to the ground in a heavy thud of metal hitting earth. "You knew Zabuza?"

"I was there when my sensei defeated him. Naruto and Sasuke defeated Haku."

"Ah, so you're the third member of Sasuke's genin team," Suigetsu said. He turned to Sasuke. "Man, remind me never to get on your bitchy side."

Suigetsu turned to Sakura, his hands gripping his sword's handles.

"This is going to be fun," he said, licking his lips.

"Suigetsu," Sasuke said, "if I were you, I'd stop looking at her tits and take her seriously."

"Relax, relax," Suigetsu said, "I've got this."

Sakura prepared herself for Suigetsu's attack. He attacked her from her right side, swung his sword in a decapitating motion. Sakura dodged his attack, moving aside.

He's fast, Sakura thought, as fast as Lee when he opens the third gate. She tucked Sai's sword in the sheath behind her lower back. She would use Tsunade's unarmed taijutsu training.

Suigetsu was at her side again, swinging his sword. Sakura did back flips and landed next to a tree. She took notice of a large rock a few meters away. She ducked again as Suigetsu swung his sword. The tree next to Sakura was cleanly sliced from its base. It groaned loudly as it came crashing down.

Sakura landed on top of the rock and waited for Suigetsu to make his move.

"What the fuck are you, a grasshopper?" Suigetsu said.

"She's a medical ninja, idiot!" Karin screamed. "Any moron can see that! She's had training to evade attacks! You're going to have to be more aggressive!"

Suigetsu cracked his knuckles again, hit his shoulders to remove the stiffness, and said, "Alright, this bitch is going down!"

Suigetsu ran forward, jumped in the air, and swung his sword at Sakura as he landed, but his blade struck the rock. Sakura did a back flip, landed on a tree, and immediately sent chakra to her feet. She lunged forward at high speed, kicked the sword hard, buried it deep within the rock, and ran the length of the sword toward Suigetsu. She sent chakra to her hand.

"What?" Suigetsu cried, shocked. His sword was buried deep inside the rock, he couldn't pull it out.

Sakura took advantage of Suigetsu's surprise and aimed her open palm full of chakra at Suigetsu's chest. Immediately, his chest became liquid once Sakura hit him. Her hand was halfway inside of Suigetsu's chest, which was now water, when Sakura swiftly closed her hand into a tight fist, dispersing her chakra. Sakura landed on the ground behind Suigetsu, rolled into a tight ball, and rapidly moved out of the way. Suigetsu lifted the sword with the entire rock and swung at her, but he hit the ground. The whole earth shook. Sakura did back flips until she landed at a good distance in front of Sasuke. She turned to Sasuke and said, "Next."

Sasuke closed his eyes.

"What the fuck's your problem!" Suigetsu screamed at her. "We're not done yet!"

"Yes," Sakura said, "we are."

Suigetsu was angry.

"That's it!" he cried. "I don't give a shit if you're a hot chick! I'm killing you right now!" He tightly gripped his sword, pulled it out of the rock, and ran toward Sakura, the edge of the blade digging a deep furrow in the earth, but after a few steps, his feet suddenly became a puddle of water.

"What the!" Suigetsu cried. He dropped his sword. Suigetsu was sinking within himself. His ankles sank into the puddle as well. Like the Wicked Witch of the West, he was melting.

Panic in eyes, Suigetsu screamed at Sakura: "Bitch! What you done to me!"

Sasuke opened his eyes.

As Sakura suspected, he had activated his Sharingan to measure her abilities.

"My eyes," Sasuke said, "can see everything. You infused your chakra into his body, into every single cell, and now your chakra has infected him and is forcing him to go into his liquid form involuntarily. Tell me, how did you do it?"

"Why should I?" Sakura said.

"Humor me," Sasuke said. "For old times sake."

His Sharingan can see chakra and jutsus _at_ the cellular level, Sakura thought, but his Sharingan is incapable of seeing what goes _in_ the cell. Amazing! The power of such eyes, to be able to see so much: he is, without a doubt, the most powerful ninja I've ever encountered and seen outside of Naruto. I've got to be the most careful I've ever been. There is no room for even a minute mistake. One false move, and it's over.

"Your friend is a water ninja. I discovered it when _that_," Sakura gestured with her head at Karin, "slapped him. Unlike you, Sasuke, I read and studied my history assiduously during our years at the Ninja Academy. Water ninjas like your friend here were the scourge of Konoha during the Great Ninja Wars. Taijutsu techniques were ineffective, and only ninjas with an affinity to lightning stood a chance against them, but Konoha's medical team captured and analyzed them. What they discovered drastically changed the way medical ninjas dealt with Kirigakure ninjas. Unlike you or me, their cells are radically different. Their cells resemble plant cells. Three fourths of their cells are large vacuoles that contain water, and unlike us who have an internal skeletal system, water ninjas' cells have cell walls that can harden and interlock with one another to form a strong exoskeleton that give them their body shape. At will, water ninjas can make their cells break and recompose their exoskeleton structure to suit their needs."

"That's all very interesting, Sakura," Sasuke said, "and thank you for the lecture, but what I asked was _how_."

"Water ninjas still have brains like us, and like us," Sakura said, "the brain sends signals to cells in order to execute a command. But cells must function independently as well. They communicate with one another, autonomously from the brain's commands. When I hit your friend and infused my chakra into his body, my chakra imitated a Messenger Ribonucleic Acid. His cells believed they were receiving a signal from their neighbor when in fact my fake mRNA hijacked his cells once they allowed my chakra to enter. My chakra immediately invaded the cell's nucleus, rewrote the DNA structure, and the nucleus sent out the signal for the cell to break its cell wall's bond with the neighboring cell. Your friend's exoskeleton is being broken cell by cell as my fake mRNA spreads throughout his body. Your friend can send commands from his brain to his cells to restructure themselves so he can gain back his exoskeleton, but try as he may, I've rewritten his DNA at the cellular level. His brain's signals cannot override the DNA restructuring process. Only another medical ninja at my level can stop it."

Sasuke smiled again.

A long time ago, Sakura would've yearned to impress Sasuke, and she would've been elated and she would've swooned that she had just accomplished such a feat, but she didn't care about that now. She needed to prolong their confrontation so Ten-Ten could get the people as far away as possible, and when the people were safe, she would send a signal to Shikamaru via Katsuyu to retreat from Danzo's army, and somehow, she need to escape from Sasuke alive.

"You fucking bitch! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Suigetsu cried. It appeared as if half of his body was being swallowed by quicksand. The puddle of water was already up to his waist, and Suigetsu clawed and buried his fingers deep into the ground as if hoping he could somehow pull his body out of the pool of water if he held firmly to the earth.

Sasuke raised his hand and Sakura immediately became cautious.

Sasuke made a motion to the ninja next to him.

"Jugo," Sasuke said, "you're up."

[_Next chapter: Sakura versus Jugo_]


	7. Chapter 7, Sakura versus Jugo

**Chapter VII – Sakura versus Jugo**

The yellow sparrow nestled itself on Jugo's collar. It chirped excitedly an unintelligible melodious chorus to all present except Jugo. He smiled. The white rabbit let itself be caressed by Jugo's large paws, and only every now and then, its ears twitched as it picked up the distant vibrations and roars of heavy battle. The rabbit was visibly agitated, uncertain how to respond to the danger around it, but in spite of its instincts to flee, it playfully twitched its whiskers at Jugo. Its red eyes looked up at him and seemed to find comfort and protection in the embrace. Jugo petted the rabbit some more, taking great caution not to break the animal's fragile bones, but then he knelt and released it to the ground. He gave it a small push, asking for it to flee. The sparrow, sensing Jugo's changing mood, chirped away and flew into the sunlight.

Jugo stood up. He walked toward Sasuke and stood next to him. Jugo towered Sasuke, overshadowing him, completely eclipsing the Uchiha shinobi in his shadow save for the red Sharingan eyes that glimmered in the darkness. Jugo turned and observed his comrade who was continually sinking into himself, the water already up to his abdomen; he then turned to the strange kuniochi who stood in front of his squad leader. He sensed the brutal and mutual intent to kill emanating from Sasuke and the pink-haired kuniochi, but he also sensed a mutual silenced and suppressed emotion that he couldn't quite decipher. He had never sensed this from Sasuke before, mainly because Sasuke had always been an indifferent stoic before the team, but whatever this strange sensation was, Karin felt it as well and it was fomenting her fury.

Jugo sized up the kuniochi standing before him. She didn't look particularly menacing or dangerous, but in Team Hawk's travels, Jugo had repeatedly heard her name: Sakura Haruno, the Great Medical Ninja Specialist of her generation, capable of curing any wound or disease, and heir of Tsunade, one of the renowned Sannin and Godaime Hokage of Konohakagure. There were rumors that Sakura had surpassed her former master, and she was forming her own ninja community, her own miniature country, in the midst of the Great Ninja War around them. Under her stewardship, her small community had grown in numbers and was becoming a viable threat to the five great ninja nations. She was supposed to be a powerful ninja, one that is not supposed to be taken lightly. That rumor, Jugo now confirmed, was true. Suigetsu was proof of that. And if Konoha's Rokudaime Hokage was at a small distance away, engaging against her small ninja army, truly this Sakura Haruno was someone to behold—and someone to be reckoned with.

Yet Jugo had no interest in fighting her.

"You've already seen that her skills are far beyond the ordinary medical ninja," Jugo said.

The two red Sharingan eyes turned to him.

"Haven't you seen enough?" Jugo pressed Sasuke. "Why do you insist on this?"

The Sharingan eyes turned to Sakura.

"Very well then," Jugo said.

He stepped forward, picked up his sleeves, and prepared to attack.

Sakura Haruno paid attention to the relationship dynamics between Sasuke and his team. She didn't have to concern herself with the kuniochi—she was too busy lowering her clothes' bust line and pushing her breasts in Sasuke's direction, and save for Sasuke, she showed little concern for the other ninjas on her team. The water ninja was already taken care of, but his arms and hands were still operable. He could still use jutsus—she expected water techniques. She must keep him in mind and in sight while engaging in any future battles. Obviously the ninja before her didn't want to engage in combat, but he felt compelled by Sasuke's request. Sakura hoped his reluctance would help her in battle.

The ninja stepped forward. He picked up his sleeves, removed his coat, and extended his right arm.

"My name is Jugo," he said. "Don't hold back."

A dark shadow, like the tarantula's hairy legs, began to rapidly spread up his neck, his jaw, and began to eclipse half of his face. His pupils became gilded.

Sakura's eyes widened. The cursed seal! Her mind momentarily recalled when Orochimaru bit Sasuke on his neck, when the cursed seal eclipsed Sasuke's face just like the ninja before her, and it darkened his heart. How could she forget when Sasuke almost ripped off the Sound Genin's arms in the Chunnin exams? Kakashi tried to seal its power, but Sasuke salivated for more in order to carry out his revenge. And now, here, this ninja was imbued with the same power. But, Sakura quickly noted, this ninja's particular power didn't consume him.

"Your power," Sakura said, "it's the cursed seal."

"No," Jugo said. "Orochimaru-sama used my power to create the cursed seal."

So he's the originator of the cursed seal, Sakura thought. He's dangerous, probably more so than the water ninja.

Jugo's right arm transformed into a black monstrous fist, almost like a fish's fin, and he made a jab into the air. The monstrous fist hyper-extended toward Sakura.

Sakura stepped aside, took out a kunai, and threw it at Jugo's head.

Jugo raised his left arm and the arm instantaneously transformed. He blocked the kunai.

Sakura immediately became aware that Jugo's right arm was transforming again. The portion that was in front of her reshaped itself like the jaws of a Venus flytrap and the two flaps immediately lunged forward, attempting to trap her. Sakura jumped back, and while in mid-air, the arm continued its transformation and a series of tentacles lunged forward. Sakura took out another kunai, this one with an exploding tag, and threw it at Jugo's arm. There was a loud explosion and a cloud of dust eclipsed any sight.

Sakura landed on the ground and felt his presence—he was already behind her! Sakura's green eyes only caught a brief glimpse as his left arm gorged into a massive, grotesque fist. He aimed for her. Sakura sent chakra to her feet and lunged forward, making herself into a tight ball. Jugo's fist made a large crater into the ground.

Sakura landed several meters away. She felt the fiery, throbbing pain on her back. His fist had only grazed her, but it was enough to make a deep gash, half an inch deep, that sliced her shoulder muscle and fractured her left shoulder blade. She sent chakra to heal the wound. She stopped the bleeding, but healing herself, along with the army engaging with Danzo, was consuming too much chakra. She needed to make a decision.

Jugo raised his fist from the ground.

There is no way I can defeat him like this, Sakura thought. He didn't want to fight me, but he's taking me seriously.

Sakura reached into her pocket. I'm so sorry guys, she thought. I don't want to do this, but I don't have a choice.

Sakura took out Katsuyu's slug clone and placed it on her left shoulder.

"Sakura-sama?" Katsuyu said.

"Tell Shikamaru of my situation," Sakura said, "and of my battle."

"_Hai_," Katsuyu said.

Sakura hesitated, but added, "And tell everyone that I can't heal and support them like before. I'll only be healing the life-threatening wounds from now on."

"Sakura-sama, are you sure?"

"He's strong, Katsuyu. And I'm going to need your help."

"_Hai_," Katsuyu said. After a moment, Katsuyu said, "Everyone knows. Shikamaru said they're still in dire predicaments, but he still has several cards up his sleeve. Ten-Ten still needs more time to evacuate the people."

Sakura placed her right hand on her knee and analyzed Jugo carefully. She was more pressed to finish the battle quicker than the one before. Many of her ninjas were bleeding, and it would only be a matter of time before fatigue and attrition began to have their effects in their fighting abilities. Sakura ceased sending three-fourths of her chakra into Katsuyu, and now sent a fourth. She circulated the seventy-five percent of her chakra all over her internal chakra system. She could engage Jugo at seventy-percent. He was faster than the water ninja, and his raw power was incredible, but his speed didn't rival Lee's when he opened the fifth gate.

His power lies in the ability to mutate his body, Sakura thought. The visible dark enzymes rapidly force his cells' transformation and division. Look for a weakness, Sakura. She had made a direct hit with the exploding kunai, but his arm looked unhurt. So he could rapidly heal himself through his mutating transformation. Sakura's eyes continued their search, but Sakura could find no weakness in his exterior. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. If she couldn't find anything in the exterior, then she needed to investigate his interior. She had no choice—she didn't want to reveal all of her abilities to Sasuke's Sharingan, especially her offensive techniques. But if she intended to fully engage with Jugo and find out his weaknesses, she had little choice but to use her strength in battle.

Sakura made tight fists. Suddenly, she became aware of underground movement. Jugo had a long coat, so she couldn't see his legs, but Sakura immediately realized that Jugo could hyperextend his feet and legs as well. She jumped in the air and the ground broke open. Two massive hands-like structures with claws emerged, rising in the air after Sakura. Jugo extended his arms and they too lunged in the air after her.

Sakura—in mid air—dipped her head down first.

"Katsuyu!" she cried.

"_Hai_!"

Taking a page from Kiba and Akamaru's book, Sakura began to rapidly spin the air like an Olympic skater doing an upside down quadruple axle.

"_Zesshi Nensan_!" Katsuyu cried.

Katsuyu spit out acid, and because of Sakura's rapid rotations, the acid became like a raining downpour. As Jugo's limbs reached for Sakura, they began to melt.

"Watch where you're throwing that shit!" Suigetsu cried. Acid rain droplets were landing too close for comfort.

Sakura stopped spinning just in time to see Jugo dislodge his arms at the elbows. New arms rapidly reformed.

Sakura landed next to Suigetsu.

"Bitch!" Suigetsu cried, grabbed his sword, and swung. Sakura did a back flip, and her foot landed inside the water puddle. Suigetsu was about to take another swing when Sakura sent chakra to her foot and immediately Suigetsu's arm collapsed into the puddle. "Ahhhh!" he cried.

Sakura sent chakra to her hands, formed a scalpel, and charged.

Jugo formed his right arm like the horns of a ram and aimed for Sakura.

Sakura met the impact with her left hand, allowing first the chakra scalpel to slice open Jugo's hand, and then she quickly began to use her strength to cancel the blow.

"Huh?" Jugo cried, surprised. "You're this strong?"

Still holding Jugo's ram-fist with her left hand, Sakura bit her glove from the middle finger and yanked it off. She placed her gloveless, open right hand on the wound and disrupted the platelets from clotting the lesion. She infused her chakra into the gash and began to read the internal functionalities of Jugo's body system.

Jugo sensed her readings and immediately pulled back his arm. He then extended both arms, not aiming at Sakura this time, and flanked her on both her right and left sides. His arms quickly became a complex web-like construction that created a dome above Sakura, creating a cage-like structure that didn't allow escape. His arms began to form thorns inside the cage's interior and the thorns lunged for Sakura.

Sakura created chakra scalpels and cut right through them, but the barrage of thorns came from everywhere. Like Neji who once had a massive amount of spiders coming down at him, Sakura sliced and diced the thorns coming from all directions, just barely keeping up. Katsuyu cried out, "_Zesshi Nensan_!" constantly, as the slug clone covered Sakura's back and blind spot with her acid. Moving at a frenetic pace, Sakura managed to find an opening and she hit the ground with her heel. The ground began to break apart as the cracking fault line moved toward Jugo. Losing his balance, Jugo stumbled, and his brief stumbling provided just enough time for Sakura to form her seals. She lowered her head, and still biting her glove, she hid her seals behind it. Jugo regained his footing, but it was too late. He suddenly stood still, as if a statue.

Sakura immediately began analyzing the open lesions. She placed her hand on one of them, and she learned Jugo's secrets. This enzyme is its own entity, Sakura thought, like a second person is living inside Jugo. When it spreads across Jugo's body, the enzymes fuse together with Jugo's cells in a Meiosis process, thus creating new cells, new limbs, like an entire new person. Sakura's green eyes stared in wonder at Jugo. He can create life and reproduce by himself! What kind of ninja is this? With his abilities, he can easily surpass Tsunade's Genesis Rebirth jutsu and regenerate at will with no consequential side effects. Amazing! Sakura thought. His enzymes truly were the foundational basis for the cursed seal. He wasn't lying: I can see that now. But like any process in Meiosis, Sakura planned, things can and do go awry.

Sakura took out a scroll from the pouch on her belt, opened it, and placed her hands on it. The chakra scalpels she created began to glow in a steady red color. She placed both hands on the wounds and immediately the discoloration began. Whenever the enzyme fused with Jugo's cells, the new cells became obsidian black, but when Sakura placed her hands on Jugo's limbs, white rivulets began to spread out en mass, discoloring the black.

"Jugo, what the fuck are you doing?" Karin cried. She threw a kunai and hit Jugo on his shoulder. "She's doing something to you! Snap out of it!" Jugo didn't move.

"Genjutsu by touch," Sasuke said. "Truly rare."

Sakura saw Sasuke lift his right hand and with his index finger, he pointed at Jugo.

No! Sakura thought. I'm not done!

Jugo's eyes came to and, a little dizzy, Jugo stumbled, but he quickly saw the white rivulets approaching his body; they were already at his elbows. Jugo tore off his arms. His forearms and hands gradually grew back, albeit, slowly and lethargically this time. The black enzymes retreated and his eyes regained their normal color. Jugo breathed heavily, and for the first time in the whole battle, his eyes exuded hatred.

As the black limb-cage around Sakura became white, it became hollow and disintegrated like snake scales.

Sakura's eyes turned to Sasuke. His Genjutsu was at definitely at Itachi's level. With merely pointing at his subject, he could place them under his control. Sasuke had cancelled her Genjutsu with his. She needed to be more careful than before.

Jugo collapsed to his knees. His breathing became irregular and he closed his right eye tightly. He was in pain. His whole body began to shrink and he became an eight-year old boy.

"Your virus," Jugo said in a child's voice, "it disrupted my cellular growth." By the look of his eyes, even the eyes of an eight-year old a child, he still loathed her, but there was a twinge of great respect mixed with the pain. "My cellular growth, you turned it against me. You implanted a virus to give me cancer." He began to wheeze. "It took everything in me to expunge your virus. To revert like this, so far to a child…"

Sasuke shifted his stance. He had seen enough. Jugo limped toward Sasuke and then stood behind him.

"Karin," Sasuke said. "Heal Suigetsu."

"What?" Karin cried. "It's my turn at the bitch! You think I'm going to let her get away with what she did to Jugo and Suigetsu?"

"Heal him," Sasuke reiterated.

Karin scoffed. She stamped all the way toward Suigetsu and placed her bare forearm in front of Suigetsu's mouth.

Suigetsu's eyes hovered around Karin's breasts.

"I can get more juice out of those," he said.

Karin punched Suigetsu's face.

"Karin!" Sasuke said, angry this time.

Suigetsu noted Sasuke's anger as well, but pretended not to be intimidated. He bit Karin's wrist. Karin's face twitched in disgust.

Sakura saw as Karin's chakra fused with Jugo's body. His body began to regain its form.

"Now," Suigetsu said, getting up, picking up his sword, "where were we little girl?"

He took several steps forward, but his legs turned into water.

"What the fuck!" Suigetsu cried to Karin.

Karin held her wrist as she wrapped a bandage around Suigetsu's bite. "Shut the fuck up! If it weren't for Sasuke, I wouldn't have bothered! The healing process takes time, moron!"

Suigetsu wrapped his arm around Karin, and Karin took him to Sasuke. She dropped him with a deliberate, watery thud next to Jugo. Suigetsu growled.

"Now," Karin said, taking out a kunai, "this bitch is mine. Never send a man to do a woman's job."

"No," Sasuke said.

"What?" Karin cried. "Why not?"

"Because I said so."

Karin bit her lower lip.

"You don't think I can do it, do you?"

Sasuke remained silent.

Karin twirled the kunai in her fingers and threw it Sakura. Sakura moved her head and the kunai zipped past her.

Sasuke took Karin's wrist and twisted it. Karin cried out in pain and was forced to kneel because of the pain.

Tears in eyes, Karin cried out as years of pent up frustrations, recriminations lived in silence, and continual slights began to pour out, "You don't care about us! You only use us! And now, all of a sudden, we're not good enough for you! Why, Sasuke, why?! How many times have we been there for you?! How many times have I healed you in your battles?! We can go back to the way things were! I promise! We've been loyal to you, and now you feel that you need her because she's the only one who—"

The move was swift. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, all three tomoes rapidly swirled together in unison and formed a new Sharingan Sakura had never seen—it was shaped like stars and Sasuke's star Sharingan eyes glared directly into Karin's eyes.

Is this Tsukuyomi? Sakura thought. She recalled the weeks Sasuke and Kakashi had spent bedridden at the hospital while Jiraya and Naruto searched for Tsunade. Both had been hit with Tsukuyomi thanks to Itachi. It was such a devastating Genjutsu, that at that point only her master knew how to heal it. Did Sasuke actually dare use it against his own comrade?

Sasuke's eyes regained normalcy.

Karin's facial shock receded and she began trembling and rubbed her arms as if she was cold. She began to sweat and rock back and forth. Her teeth clattered.

No, Sakura thought, that wasn't Tsukuyomi. It was another Genjutsu, a Genjutsu she recalled well when Team Seven tested during the Chunnin exams. Orochimaru had used it against her and Sasuke. They were only twelve then, but now, at nineteen, Sasuke had created his own version of it. He probably showed Karin the many ways he could kill her if he wanted.

"All of you," Sasuke said, "leave us."

The child Jugo quietly helped Karin to her feet, and even Suigetsu's face showed sympathy toward the kuniochi. They retreated together.

Sakura looked at Sasuke. She didn't know what Sasuke wanted, but Karin had revealed an indispensable clue in her tirade—Sasuke needed her, and somehow, she was the only person that could do something for him. What that was, she didn't know but she needed to figure out. Time, unfortunately, wasn't on her side. She increased her chakra flow to ninety percent into Katsuyu and began to heal all the wounds of the shinobi. Things were dire on the battlefield—Danzo's troops were winning and were positioning themselves to win in spite of Shikamaru's best efforts and strategies, and Ten-Ten had yet to get the people far away enough for Shikamaru to retreat.

Sasuke unsheathed his Kusanagi sword.

"Haven't you had enough of bullying people around?"

"Hmph," Sasuke said, smiling.

Sakura unsheathed Sai's dagger.

"So it comes to this," Sakura said.

"Come to think of it," Sasuke said, "we have never fought before."

"You're right," Sakura said, "but everything ends here, right now."

[**PLEASE REVIEW!** _Up next, Chapter VIII: In Their Masters' Shadow! The Battle Begins: Sasuke versus Sakura!_]


	8. Chapter 8, The Battle of Sakura & Sasuke

**Chapter VIII – In Their Masters' Shadow! The Battle Begins: Sasuke versus Sakura!**

Sakura tightened her grip over Sai's dagger, sent chakra to her eyes to see and sense Sasuke's movements, and gradually decreased the amount of chakra she poured into Katsuyu. Since Katsuyu was the medium through which Sakura healed Shikamaru and the others, Katsuyu helped her in the healing process by combining Sakura's chakra with its own chakra so the healing process would be more efficient and wouldn't rapidly drain Sakura. The healing process was a mutual effort, but the battle with Suigetsu and Jugo—though brief—was now starting to take its toll on Sakura. She was starting to feel tired. And she was almost out of chakra.

Sakura had learned to push her chakra control to its maximum efficiency and she could employ multiple jutsus, but because she had a small chakra reserve, she had to rely on _hyourougans_, soldier pills, to replenish and boost her chakra. She had _hyourougans_ in her belt pouch, but she still had enough chakra to fight. She needed to be practical and frugal: she would only use a _hyourougan _once she was at her chakra's lost drop.

Sasuke remained aloof. Though he had withdrawn his katana, his mind seemed to wander elsewhere. He had yet to activate his Sharingan, and only looked at Sakura as if she were a deer he had stumbled upon unexpectedly in the forest.

Sakura hesitated to attack. Sasuke still had more battle experience than her. In spite of her exile, Sakura had heard of and kept up with Sasuke's exploits over the years, of his encounters with great ninjas and how he had single handedly defeated them all. The name Uchiha once again became a reviled but respected name all over the five great shinobi nations. And Sasuke's name still lived in infamy within the borders of Konohakagure. Sasuke had the power of an army. Once, while passing by a battlefield between Leaf and Water ninjas, Sasuke had ordered all to get out of his way or face death. The Water ninjas quickly obeyed, but the Leaf ninjas who had orders from Danzo to kill Sasuke on sight, attempted to fulfill their duties. Sasuke killed over two-hundred Leaf shinobi that day. He had drastically tipped the scales of that war front with a few bold strokes of his Kusanagi sword. And now Sakura had that ninja in front of her.

Sasuke's eyes seemed to focus now and he finally seemed to acknowledge the kuniochi before him.

"That dagger," Sasuke said, "it belongs to the pansy who replaced me, doesn't it?"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows.

"He was a tough ninja," Sasuke said, "I'll give him that. But against these eyes, his jutsus didn't stand a chance."

"What are you talking about?"

"I ran into him yesterday. I wouldn't have been able to find you or your little group without him."

"Sai would never betray us!"

Sasuke took his katana with his left hand, and then he removed the sleeve from his right arm. He then took the katana into his right hand. His white robe no longer constricted his right arm's movement.

"You're right," Sasuke said, "but I've got unimaginable ways of extracting information from shinobis, surely someone like you could understand that—Nanadaime Hokage."

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. So he knew! The Elder's offer, he knew!

"Today," Sasuke said, "I will kill two Hokages."

Sakura's lower lip trembled.

"Why?" she asked. "Why, Sasuke? You don't have to do this."

Sasuke activated his Sharingan.

"I've yet to strike, Sakura," Sasuke said. "Ninjas usually wait to say, 'You don't have to do this,' while they lie on the ground, defeated, immobile, and unable to accept their impending death."

Sakura's lower lip stopped trembling.

"Where's Sai?"

Sasuke closed and opened his eyes.

"Two miles north from here. Probably dead already."

Sakura ignored Sasuke's last comment.

"Katsuyu," Sakura said.

"_Hai_," Katsuyu answered. The small clone slug on Sakura's shoulder began to divide in two. The new clone hit the ground and began to head north.

"Still worrying about others?" Sasuke said. "You should worry about yourself."

"Like there's a chance someone who can't save a friend could become Hokage, don't you think, Sasuke?"

Sasuke smiled.

"Hmph," he said. "Quoting dear, old Naruto?"

Sakura gazed at the man before her. He was still as handsome as she remembered him, perhaps now even more, and though he was only a dozen meters away, there, standing right in front of her, there was now an insurmountable gulf between them.

Sasuke vanished. He was right behind her. Sakura ducked as Sasuke slashed for her head. She felt the electric charge of his katana as it sliced off her hair. She felt the sharp blade graze the back of her neck, sending electric impulses down her spine, legs, and arms, giving her Goosebumps. Locks and singular strands of pink hair floated and filled the air. Sakura's green eyes widened as she saw Sasuke's knee approaching her face. She froze. He's fast! He's as fast as Lee when he opens his sixth gate!

She felt the blow hit her face, and then she felt as light as a feather as her body floated in the air as she was thrown back with the blow's sheer impact. Her back hit the ground hard, but she quickly twisted her body to regain her footing. She did a back flip and when she was upright again, her back hit the rock where she had buried Suigetsu's sword only moments ago. Her whole face throbbed in pain. Rivulets of blood poured forth from her nose and mouth. She covered her mouth and nose with her left hand, but she Sasuke was already coming. She ducked. The katana struck the rock, slicing through like a hot knife through butter.

She could only dodge his attacks. He wasn't giving her an opportunity to go on the offensive. Back flips, cartwheels, splits—Sakura utilized all the acrobatic skills she knew, but it still wasn't enough to get enough distance from Sasuke. He wasn't giving her an inch.

Sasuke aimed to decapitate her again, and finally, Sakura sent chakra to the wind tag on Sai's dagger, giving it the power of the wind element. The two blades clashed. The three tomoes in Sasuke's Sharingan twirled once.

"Wind element," he said.

Sakura used her strength, sliding her sharp blade against his sharp blade, and in a powerful punch, struck Sasuke's katana with all her strength. She sent him flying back. She slashed the air with the dagger, sending a blade of wind after Sasuke's body, but Sasuke had vanished once again. The wind blade sliced and cut cleanly through several trees.

"_Katon_: _Housenka no Jutsu_!"

A barrage of fire blasts came raining down from the sky. Sakura dodged them, and after the last fire blast, she landed on top of the rock. She saw Sasuke coming from the corner of her eye. He aimed for her with his katana, but Sakura blocked it with the dagger. She applied her strength to the blade and the wind dagger sliced through the Kusanagi sword. She cut Sasuke's abdomen. The body exploded in a puff of smoke.

_Kage bunshin_!

It was too late. Sasuke was already at her left side. He did a roundhouse kick, kicking her behind her knees, tripping her, making her fall on her back. Sakura tried to defend herself with the dagger, but he kicked her wrist and the dagger flew off into the distance, slicing and getting stuck into a tree. Sasuke pierced Sakura with the Kusanagi sword in her left shoulder. Sakura cried out in pain.

"Your choice of defense, quite the mistake."

When Sakura's eyes came to, she realized she wasn't feeling the full brunt of the blade. Katsuyu's clone had come in between the blade and her shoulder and it was writhing as Sasuke sent the Chidori current into the blade.

My body, Sakura thought, I can't move it. It's becoming numb. Can't mold my chakra properly, just like when Sasori struck me with the blade full of poison.

"So this is the power of Konoha's future Hokage?" Sasuke said. "Pathetic."

Sasuke sent a more powerful electric current.

_Chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_.

Sakura grit her teeth. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

"Ideological fool," Sasuke said.

The electric current forced Sakura to close her eyes. She began to pant. The electric currents were starting to constrict her breathing. She began to pant desperately.

"Trying to create Paradise out here?" he said. "Running away from Reality? Well here's a cruel dose of it: Danzo is at the cusp of conquering the remaining shinobi nations. He wants to create a new system where all nations are not only under his rule, but all nations follow his language, his culture, his system of writing: Danzo wants to become the Emperor of the Five Great Nations. He wants to forge a new, singular nation out of the five nations. He wants to create a royal dynasty that will rule in perpetuity under the Mandate of Heaven. Tell me, in all sincerity, did you really think a stupid, little girl like you ever had the chance to overthrow someone like him?"

Sakura forced herself to open her eyes. Sasuke's eyes were intense.

Sakura panted.

"Someone, some-one, like-like, y-you," she struggled to talk, "w-would never, un-under-stand."

The three tomoes in Sasuke's eyes began to twirl as he activated his star Sharingan eyes. He sent a massive Chidori current into his blade, the lightning completely visible from his shoulder down to the blade.

_CHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHI_!

Sakura's body began to convulse. She felt like someone was tearing out her insides. She was on the verge of passing out.

"You fucking idiot," Sasuke said, lowering his voice, making it cold, menacing, deadly. "The Elders are on to Danzo's plan. Do you know what would happen to them, to Konoha's Feudal Lords if Danzo became Emperor?" Sasuke laughed. "You were going to be nothing but a weak Hokage. A pitiable puppet. A figure head at best. Your intentions may be pure, for peace, but your face would've become the new face for Konoha—the Hokage—the focus of hatred of the four ravaged nations. If you became Hokage, the other shinobi nations could set you ablaze on a pyre and Konoha's Feudal Lords and Elders wouldn't bother to piss on you to put the flames out."

Tears were running down Sakura's eyes.

Sasuke leaned in close

"Here's your cue to say, 'Sasuke-kun, you don't have to do this.'"

Sakura closed her eyes. She remembered Naruto's wide, youthful, and optimistic smile, white bandages wrapped all over his head, proof of his battle with Sasuke. He confidently and unshakably remade his promise to get Sasuke back. She had smiled at him. She had promised him that day that next time, next time they were going to get Sasuke back together. She remembered that when they met Sasuke again, in Orochimaru's lair, she had tried to help, but Captain Yamato had seen that Sasuke was out her league—Yamato was left no choice but to get in between them and take Sasuke's blade. She had trained, she had learned, she had sweated under the sun, under the rain, in the cold and in the fall. Through the years, she unshakably believed that one day she, Naruto, and Sasuke would stand side by side as friends, as comrades, as fellow ninjas, once again reunited as Team Seven and together they would protect Konoha from it all. But now…

NO!

Sakura opened her eyes, and with sheer will power and force, she made her left hand take hold of Sasuke's Kusinagi sword. She raised her right hand.

Sasuke narrowed his red Sharingan eyes.

_Chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_-_chi_!

Sasuke's eyes widened with surprise.

Sakura's right palm—there was a perfect sphere of concentrated lightning!

Sasuke pulled for his sword, but Sakura held on tightly.

"_Chidori_!"

Sasuke jumped back several feet away. He was at the perfect distance to attack or defend. He had managed to pull out his Kusanagi sword.

Sakura stood up, panting, holding her shoulder. It was bleeding profusely.

Sasuke looked at her calmly. She had hit the edge of his shoulder, wounding him as well. Sakura saw as his skin became black. His wound began to close.

So, he has the same power as Jugo, Sakura thought.

"You rerouted my Chidori current through your nervous system and let the lightning exit at the palm of your hand. Impressive."

Sakura began to heal her wound internally.

"Don't, Sakura-sama," Katsuyu said. "Allow me."

The slug moved and placed itself over Sakura's shoulder and began to glow.

"Katsuyu," Sakura said, "tell Ten-Ten I need my battle scrolls."

"_Hai_," Katsuyu said. In less than a second, the slug replied, "I have them."

Blood in hand, Sakura placed her hand on the rock and said, "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

Another slug clone appeared with a small scroll and a large one as well.

"Go back to Ten-Ten and await further orders," Sakura said.

"_Hai_," the clone said and disappeared.

Sakura hoisted the large scroll, wrapped it around her so it was on her lower back. Those last movements almost drained the last of her chakra.

Sakura took out a round pill and swallowed it.

"_Hyourougan_?" Sasuke said. "Out of chakra already? Our battle has yet to begin."

Sakura picked up the small scroll before her. She looked at it intently and momentarily recalled Chiyo. Chiyo had battled against her own flesh and blood. She had known her duty. And like her, Sakura now knew hers.

"You're right, Sasuke," Sakura said, "about everything—the Feudal Lords and the Elders. But there's one thing you need to know: I'm not the same girl from the village you left behind."

With a quick, sharp movement of her hands and arms, Sakura spread out the scroll in the air before her. With her thumb, she ran the length of the scroll in blood. She took the wooden end and began to twirl it around her. The long scroll page danced around her in spinning circles until it wrapped tightly around her.

"_Ninpo_: _Summon_!"

There was a large explosion. After the air cleared, Sakura jumped out into the distance, picked up the dagger lodged in the tree and landed at a distance in front of Sasuke.

"That armor," Sasuke said.

"Yes," Sakura said, lamentably. "I swore to myself that I would only use it against Danzo, and forbade myself from using this other scroll, but sometimes life doesn't pan out the way you expect it to."

Sasuke smiled.

"So, if you have Shodai Hokage's armor," he said, "then that means, that scroll, behind your back—"

"_Hai_," Sakura said. "It's the Sacred Scroll of Sealing: the scroll Shodai Hokage himself used in his battle against Uchiha Madara and the Kyubi at the Valley of the End, the scroll that Nidaime Hokage used to seal the most arcane forbidden jutsus, and the scroll where Yondaime Hokage wrote his powerful sealing jutsu that he used to seal the Kyubi inside Naruto-kun." Sakura paused before saying, "And I have studied them all."

"Humph. This is getting interesting."

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. She saw a slight, unreadable expression come upon Sasuke's face when she referred to him as 'kun.' "Today, Sasuke-kun, I'm going to fight you with the legacy of the five true Hokages of Konoha."

Sasuke smiled ear to ear.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura: I'm beyond impressed. Does this mean total war?"

"Total," Sakura said firmly.

Sakura assumed her fighting stance, sent chakra to her eyes, and added the wind element to the dagger. She was ready.

"Come, Sasuke-kun. I have a date with Rokudaime Hokage and I can't keep him waiting."

[**PLEASE REVIEW!** _Up next, Chapter IX: The Battles on Two Fronts_!]


	9. Chapter 9, The Battles on Two Fronts

**Chapter IX – The Battles on Two Fronts!**

The ground's surface began to crack. Trees began to bend. Wildlife fled. The air pushed down on the forest. The atmosphere became heavy, unbreathable as Sasuke and Sakura's chakras collided with one another.

Sakura attempted to show no emotion, no intimidation, but she knew Sasuke had a larger reserve of chakra. From the very start, she knew she was at a disadvantage. She could only hope to finish the battle quickly, but with the Sharingan's ability to copy ninjutsus, and Sasuke's innumerable battle experiences, Sakura knew she was at the losing end: she didn't know what kind of jutsus Sasuke had up his sleeve, and for all her experience training with her fellow peers in the past three years, she knew they weren't comparable to the ruthless and unforgiving training under Orochimaru, or the legacy and infamy of the Uchiha family name.

"We don't have to fight," Sakura said.

"No," Sasuke said nonchalantly, "we do. What would you have me do? Allow Konoha's Hokages to escape? Give up? Give in?"

"I never said that."

"Then what did you mean?"

"All we want is a little peace."

"Little?" Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow. "Why so modest, Sakura? How about Eternal Peace? I can give you that."

Sakura wanted to bite her tongue, but in spite of herself, she wanted to reach out to the Sasuke that had repeatedly protected her throughout their Genin missions, to the Sasuke-kun she knew cared about her and Naruto and was somewhere buried inside that sinister veneer.

"Of all the things you could've said to me Sasuke-kun, after three years, nine months, and twenty-six days…"

"You've counted the days?"

"I made the numbers up."

Sasuke smiled.

"Your move," he said.

"I'm waiting," Sakura replied.

"For what?"

"For you to remove your Genjutsu."

Sasuke looked intently at Sakura.

"I remember," Sasuke said, "right after we came back from defeating Zabuza, when we were getting ready to take the Chunin Exams, there was a preliminary test. The jounin ninjas created a Genjutsu field that made the second floor appear to be the third. I praised your analytical and Genjutsu know-how, but until I pointed the Genjutsu out, you hadn't noticed we were encroached by it. And now…this Genjutsu of mine is special. It drains my opponent's chakra with every movement he makes. My opponents perform their jutsus mindlessly and carelessly. Few—if any—ever find out they are trapped in it until it's too late and they've exhausted themselves."

"Why Sasuke," Sakura said, "if I didn't know any better, and I didn't have the wound on my shoulder and my hair wasn't scattered all over the forest, I'd say you were praising me."

"Humph," Sasuke said. He closed his eyes. The world began to fold and melt within itself, blurring and redefining itself like a Salvador Dalí surreal painting.

Sakura's eyes came to and she was back in the forest again, in the real world this time. The ground was cracked and pieces of earth floated and hovered in the air, hoisted by the intensity of their chakra.

"It's been such a long time since I've had such a worthy adversary," Sasuke said.

"Before we start, there's something I need to know," Sakura said. She hesitated at first, but she needed to know. "Did you ever like me?"

"No."

Sakura swallowed.

"Good," she said. "Good. Then it will make the things that we are about to do to each other a whole lot pleasanter."

Sasuke's Sharingan began to spin.

"Where were we?" he said.

"It was my move."

"Of course. Ladies first."

**XXX**

The sweat was beginning to sting his eyes. Shikamaru Nara held on to fifty Leaf ninjas with his Shadow Possession Jutsu as Lee engaged in close combat and knocked them unconscious. With powerful but non-fatal strikes behind the head, the ninjas fell to the ground, no longer a viable threat. It was way past noon, the sun was behind their opponents, which helped Shikamaru. Their shadows extended even more toward him.

Shino collapsed next to Shikamaru.

"How you holding up?"

"Sakura may heal me, but she can't replace my insects. I've already lost sixty percent."

"Damn."

Shikamaru's eyes widened as an onslaught of kunai came down from the sky. The sheer numbers blotted out the sun. The kunais had exploding tags.

"Neji!" Shikamaru shouted. "Everyone!"

All ninjas came together into a tight circle with Neji at the center, and Neji, seeing the massive amount of kunais headed their way, began to spin.

"_Hakkeshō Kaiten!_"

The kunais landed and exploded. The whole ground shook, creating a large crater, but Neji protected everyone with his jutsu.

Ninjas—earth users—took advantage of the exploding chaos to emerge behind the small force, but Kiba, who had a keen sense of smell, caught wind of the plan and together with Akamaru, launched their Dual Piercing Fang technique once Neji stopped spinning.

Neji was drenched in sweat, ready to collapse.

"I'm almost out of chakra," Neji said. "Katsuyu, please."

"I'm sorry Neji-sama," Katsuyu said, "Sakura's fighting Sasuke. She's using everything she has to keep up. I can't spare anymore chakra myself, or else my clone will vanish."

"Here," Shikamaru said, handing his Katsuyu clone to Neji and taking Neji's Katsuyu clone for himself, "you need this Katsuyu clone more than I do. Katsuyu, give Neji more chakra. Neji needs to protect our medic-nin. We're on our own now. Ask Ten-Ten how she's doing."

Katsuyu waited for a moment.

"Ten-Ten-sama has crossed the canyon and is already setting up the seals and barrier to hide the people from the power of the Byakugan. Give her ten minutes and she'll be here to reinforce all of you."

"Excellent," Shikamaru said, "we need all the help we can get."

[**PLEASE, ****PLEASE**** REVIEW!**]


	10. Chapter 10, The Slug and the Anaconda

**Chapter X – The Slug and the Anaconda**

Sakura sent chakra to her feet, jumped high into the air, and threw kunais—all directed at Sasuke. With effortless grace, Sasuke made a jab in the air with Chidori, breaking the lightning orb into multiple acupuncture-like needles that not only collided with the kunai, but sliced right through them. The lightning needles perforated Sakura like paper, but Sakura's body exploded in a cloud of smoke.

_Kwarimi no Jutsu_.

Cherry blossom petals began to descend and hover endlessly all over the area. The mangled kunais were replete with them.

Sasuke saw one pink petal twisting round and round before his eyes. He scooped it up with his hand and after closing it and applying pressure with his lightning jutsu, he opened his hand again and saw that the cherry blossom was actually an exploding tag.

Sasuke's Sharingan eyes immediately surveyed his surroundings. He turned to his right and he saw a kunai with an exploding tag coming towards him. With his katana, Sasuke parried it. The kunai exploded, setting off a chain reaction that forced all of the cherry blossoms in the vicinity to explode.

After the dust settled, a massive black anaconda stood in the place where Sasuke had been. It was tightly coiled—as if protecting its young—with its purple forked tongue wiggling in the air. The fire blast had damaged most of its scales, and some were still ablaze, but the explosion didn't prove to be fatal. It slowly began to uncoil, and hidden within its entrails, ensconced from harm, was Sasuke. Sasuke's red eyes glimmered menacingly in the shadows.

"Go," he said.

The snake quickly uncoiled and dashed off into the forest at high speeds. A few meters away, it stopped and it began to struggle with something.

Sasuke took his time to get to the anaconda. Once he got to where it was, he saw that the anaconda had wrapped itself around Sakura. Sakura struggled with the thick snake, pushing it away with her strength to keep it from completely coiling around her.

"Not dead? Anacondas constrict their prey with the weight of a house per every square inch of their coils."

Finally, the snake managed to fully wrap itself around Sakura and began to constrict her with its massive, tough muscles. Sasuke looked at Sakura with placid eyes as he saw the anaconda squeeze the life out of her. When it finally appeared Sakura was about to breathe her last, Sakura's body exploded, revealing that the anaconda was actually coiled around Katsuyu.

_Henge no Jutsu_.

The anaconda opened its fangs wide, ready to swallow the slug, but Katsuyu spit acid. The snake writhed and slashed around in excruciating agony as the acid sizzled and burned deep through into its skull, brains, and viscera.

As the anaconda died, Sasuke's eyes quickly looked around the forest. Finally, he looked up and saw Sakura in the air, descending in a split, heel coming down, aimed at his head.

Sakura's foot landed on the ground and sent a shockwave that decimated her environs.

Sakura looked up. Sasuke stood at the edge where the damaged earth ended, unharmed. Fighting the Sharingan is extremely difficult, Naruto had once told her. Naruto had explained that the Sharingan had the ability to predict movements, see chakra, and if the Sharingan user proved able, he could easily slip away from any attack, no matter how meticulously orchestrated it was. She had seen firsthand the Sharingan's power when Kakashi and Naruto battled Itachi Uchiha years before when their team was on their way to rescue Gaara. Damn it, Sakura thought. Had Sasuke been a regular ninja, she would have at least been able to graze him. That enough would've been enough to incapacitate him at least, kill him at best.

"You planned several steps ahead," Sasuke said, "setting traps and contingency plans. This wasn't your style. From whom have you been learning?"

Sakura didn't answer.

Sasuke took a deep breath, and with one seal he made Chidori and ran toward Sakura.

Sakura prepared herself for combat, but after a few steps, Sasuke slammed the Chidori down into the ground.

The Chidori's coming at me from the ground! Sakura noted.

Making a tight fist, Sakura slammed the ground with a powerful blow. The ground exploded with massive force, overturning large clods of earth. No longer a conduit, the lightning currents flashed back and forth as they traveled between the upturned clods.

Now's my chance! Sakura thought.

Taking the Sacred Scroll of Sealing from behind her back, Sakura opened it, and pressed her hands into the complex tattooed-like written jutsus.

"_Suiton_: _Suikouda__n no Jutsu_!"

A massive water dragon burst out from the scroll. The water dragon traveled between the earth clods, through the Chidori currents, fusing with the lightning, becoming its conduit and becoming fully empowered with the water and lightning jutsus.

Sasuke did a hand seal.

"_Katon_: _Goukakyū no Jutsu_!"

The grand fireball collided with the water-lightning dragon, and in an explosive force, the jutsus cancelled each other out.

The air quickly filled with humidity from the water exhaust. Sakura's armor clung tightly to her body, and her hair clung to cheeks, as if she had just gotten out of the shower.

She rewrapped the scroll and placed it on her back. I can't use many elemental jutsus, Sakura thought. They consume too much chakra.

As the humid mist cleared, Sasuke still stood in the same place where he had stood before, unmoving, unflinching. He looked at Sakura intently with his Sharingan eyes.

Katsuyu's clone wiggled as it came close to Sakura. It jumped in the air and landed on Sakura's shoulder.

"Sakura-sama, I've found Sai," Katsuyu said.

"How is he?"

"Beaten and bound by ice shackles, but I've set him free. He wants to back you up."

"No," Sakura said. "Tell him to back Shikamaru and the others; they need him more than I do."

"_Hai_," Katsuyu said. "Ten-Ten-sama has finished sealing and hiding the civilians. We can transport both to Shikamaru."

Sakura was about to place her hand on Katsuyu's clone, to do a reverse _kuchiyose_ to transport Ten-Ten and Sai to Shikamaru, but suddenly Katsuyu's optic tentacles began to waver and move around aimlessly, as if in a drunken haze.

"Katsuyu?" Sakura said, worried.

Katsuyu's optic tentacles suddenly became alert, rigid.

"I'm not impressionable like Manda," Katsuyu said. "Genjutsu will not work on me, for I only serve Sakura-sama."

Sakura looked at Sasuke, astounded at his attempt to sabotage her aid to her friends. He had a grin at the corner of his mouth.

Sakura placed her palm on Katsuyu.

"_Kuchiyose no jutsu_!"

Sakura felt better and more secure as Shikamaru and the others received back up. She could now fully concentrate on her battle without worrying constantly.

Sakura took out a soldier pill and ate it.

"My turn," Sasuke said.

He vanished.

Sakura turned around and there was a reverberating clang of metal clashing against metal. Sasuke immediately began wielding his sword with deadly precision and calculation, aiming for Sakura's vital spots. He was incredibly fast, slightly faster than when Lee opened his sixth gate, and Sakura, for all her efforts, could only keep blocking his attacks with Sai's dagger, without the opportunity or ability to launch a counterattack. She ducked as Sasuke slashed for her head, and at that moment she realized that her only choice to even the odds was by attrition. Sakura channeled more chakra to the wind tag, adding more wind element power to Sai's dagger. She would have to use her strength, swordsmanship, and evading tactics to their fullest potential.

The two blades and ninjas clashed in a furious and blurry flurry, but Sasuke upped the ante and made an opening, kicking Sakura hard, making her fly away. Sakura quickly flipped herself over like a falling cat. She held on to her ribs, sweat on brow, panting hard, as Sasuke condescendingly looked down at her without the slightest hint of exhaustion. His eyes turned to his blade, and he could see that in spite of imbuing it with Chidori's power, the wind element proved to be sharp enough to slice through lightning. His Kusanagi sword had nicks everywhere, and some of the cuts were deep. Though Sakura could only defend herself from Sasuke's sword attacks, she had repeatedly targeted the same spots on the sword as she blocked the incoming swings, gradually hacking away at the sword, chipping it, debilitating it. A few more blows and she would've been able to cut right through.

Sasuke became visibly annoyed.

My best bet, Sakura thought, her breathing becoming steady, is to disarm him. I'm not a good swordsman, never have been, but if I can get him in hand-to-hand combat, I can increase my chances to land a hit.

Sasuke slashed the bandages wrapped around his arms and hands. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw that he had imprinted on his wrists summoning tattoos. His fingers touched the opposing arm's wrists, and kunais appeared. Sakura readied herself and the dagger.

Sasuke launched endless projectiles at Sakura. For a moment, Sakura felt she was back again in battle with Chiyo besides her, and instead of Sasuke, she was dealing with the venomous needles of Sasori's puppet. Sakura parried some kunais with the dagger, others she dodged. Suddenly, in the midst of the torrent of kunais, Sasuke took out a large shuriken and launched it at Sakura. Applying the wind element, Sakura sliced through it, but there was a shadow shuriken hidden within the first, coming right behind her. She sliced the air and the wind blade cut right through the second shuriken. It was brief, but she clearly saw that both shuriken, as they dismantled in the air, were being controlled by hair-thin wires. She saw Sasuke's fingers, and sure enough—like Chiyo and Sasori—the wires were strung around his fingers. Sakura read Sasuke's finger movements. She contorted her body, dipping her head down, becoming a T as the shuriken fragments exploded and became individual blades, all aimed at her, all infused with Chidori. Even with the precision of the Sharingan, Sakura eluded the incoming shuriken blades. Sasuke was no Master Puppeteer. She became a tight ball and landed on the ground.

Sasuke was suddenly right in front of her. His Kusanagi sword clashed with Sai's dagger, and using a circular motion, Sasuke disarmed Sakura. Sasuke swung his sword, but Sakura blocked him at the wrist. Sasuke ducked Sakura's punch, and like a football player, he made a tackling motion, hitting his shoulder hard against her abdomen. With the wind knocked out of her, Sasuke released his sword, took hold of Sakura's wrist, and pushing her toward him, slammed his free fist hard against her face. With a swift turn, Sasuke took the katana again and made another slash, but Sakura clapped her hands together, catching the blade inches above her eyes.

Sasuke released Chidori.

Sakura's muscles contorted in violent spasms as the high voltage of lightning ran through her body, but Sakura obstinately refused to release the blade—if she did, her life was over. Sakura redirected the lightning to her feet via her nervous system, releasing it to the ground beneath, and applying her strength, she placed pressure on the blade.

"_Shannaro_!"

The Kusanagi sword buckled under Sakura's strength and with all the cuts that had debilitated it—broke in two.

Sakura did a roundhouse kick at Sasuke's head, but Sasuke ducked, countering with his own roundhouse kick to the back of Sakura's leg. She fell to the ground, but she quickly moved out of the way as Sasuke impaled the ground with Chidori.

It's now or never! Sakura thought.

She charged.

She aimed for Sasuke with her fists in intense hand-to-hand combat, but Sasuke never attempted to directly block her punches, rather, he parried her blows at her wrists, or allowed her to lean in into his space, breaking her fighting center root, jabbing at her abdomen, kneeing her on her ribs. He kicked her hard in her sternum and sent her flying back a few meters.

Sakura breathed hard and wiped away the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. She wasn't getting anywhere. Her strength was meaningless as long as Sasuke could dodge and counterattack her fists with his Sharingan's readings. It didn't matter that her taijutsus skill was close to Lee's level—Sasuke's eyes rendered her combat skills useless.

Sasuke smiled. He could see the realization sinking in on Sakura's face.

"Someone has been training with Lee," Sasuke said.

Sakura's eyes widened. That's it! Sakura thought. She remembered long ago, when she trained with Tsunade to learn how to dodge attacks and she had shown terrible weakness by covering her eyes, Tsunade had become angry and vociferously censured her: "_Don't close your eyes_! _Watch an enemy's movements closely_! _Before their attack_, _during their attack_, _after their attack_! _Don't overlook any little movement_. _If you're any kind of sorry excuse for a shinobi_, _you've probably heard this_: _people each have dominant hands_, _dominant legs and habits_. _For many different reasons_, _a fixed pattern is revealed when they move_. _Once a shinobi becomes a Chunin or Jounin_, _they train to reduce those habits so as not to telegraph that pattern to the enemy_…_but it's not something that can be completely eliminated_. _With that_, _you should be able to see an enemy's weakness_. _You have to find that weakness as fast as you can_. _Then you should be able to improve your ability to dodge an attack_!"

Tsunade's lecture revealed the power of the Sharingan—what took Sakura time to analyze and survey after numerous movements from an enemy combatant, the Sharingan could do instantaneously from the moment a ninja threw a punch. The Sharingan could read an enemy's dominant legs, dominant arms and habits within seconds and predict the enemy's attacking movement and set up accordingly a counter-offensive. Sasuke had seen Lee's attack patterns before, so it was only natural that he saw Lee's residual influence in Sakura's own taijutsu since the two shinobi had sparred and honed their taijutsu skills together over the past few years.

But Sasuke didn't know that Sakura had sparred with Neji as well.

Tsunade and Lee—though they emphasized different attributes—had helped her train in the Strong Fist style, and with Neji, she had trained and come to understand the basics in the Gentle Fist style. Sasuke's eyes had already adjusted to the attacking patterns and power of the Strong Fist style, but if she threw in the Gentle Fist style she had picked up from Neji, relying on her chakra scalpel to cut internally the muscles instead of attacking the chakra network, she could constantly switch between the Strong Fist and Gentle Fist to deceive the Sharingan, and always keeping Sasuke guessing which style she would use.

Sakura prepared to attack again but she suddenly stopped herself. No, she couldn't attack. Not yet. Think, Sakura, think, she told herself. Tsunade, Lee, and Neji have revealed to you a way to turn the Sharingan's strength into a weakness, but now it's time to apply Shikamaru's tactics and deep thought into the fight. Even if she could switch back and forth between the two styles, at best, the two styles would throw Sasuke off momentarily, and she could land one or several blows—but that wasn't enough. Not with Sasuke. He'd pick up on her tactics immediately. He was that good. Perhaps, the best. Still, even the best swimmers can drown. What would Shikamaru do? How would he turn this small opening into a huge window of opportunity to overturn the tide of battle to his advantage?

Sakura got it. She came up with a plan.


	11. Chapter 11, Vision Compromised

**Chapter XI – Vision Compromised**

Sakura placed the kunai in her mouth, biting and gripping the handle with her teeth. She only had one shot, and if she didn't make it, she would lose the battle…and her life.

She looked at Sasuke and his Sharingan eyes. She remembered that sometimes, while playing Shogi with Shikamaru, Shikamaru reprimanded her when she made mistakes. He told her that whenever she saw an opening, she should assess and see if she should take the move.

"But it's too obvious," Sakura said. "It looks like you're setting me up."

"Sometimes," Shikamaru said, leaning his elbows on the game's board, "the most obvious and simplest technique is the best and most effective solution."

Sakura paused and recalled that in her battle with Sasori, since Sasori was a Master Puppeteer, his fingers were the most effective weapon in his arsenal. And by reading his fingers, Sakura immediately discovered his weakness. Like Sasori himself had said, a puppeteer without his puppet is just a regular person.

Sakura took everything she had learned to the present to her battle with Sasuke. This is it, she thought. She charged.

Her Strong Fist taijutsu was ineffective. Sasuke dodged all of her attacks.

Sakura began to employ her tactic.

Just as she aimed to hit Sasuke's face, she changed her fighting style at the last possible moment. She changed the nature of her chakra and formed a chakra scalpel midway through the air. She aimed for Sasuke's throat, but Sasuke _still_ read her movements. He moved. Her hand landed on his chest instead. She felt herself slice his pectoral muscles. Sasuke jumped a few feet away.

Sasuke was visibly annoyed. Sweat beads formed on his forehead.

He's in pain, Sakura thought. He never thought I could land a hit. But here's my chance. I've got to take it!

Sakura charged again, and though she changed styles indiscriminately, Sasuke had already picked up on her movements. He parried her attacks, and offensively hit her as well.

Sasuke punched Sakura hard, forcing her back a few feet.

This is it! Sakura thought.

With a quick flick of the head, Sakura threw the kunai from her mouth. Sasuke naturally dodged it, but for a split second while he dodge the kunai, his eyes were momentarily off Sakura.

Sakura took out too round balls, the size of marbles, from her pouch. They were tools from the time she sparred with Shikamaru. She tucked them into her hands, formed fists, and proceeding to attack again.

Both shinobi were engaged in hand-to-hand combat, but midway through their fighting, Sakura stopped, and instead of aiming or attempting to attack Sasuke, Sakura began to make a clapping motion.

Surprised at the fact that Sakura wasn't attacking him, Sasuke's eyes surveyed her face, her limbs, her body, uncertain of what Sakura was doing, but then, he suddenly saw that tucked within the insides of her fingers were two balls with the kanji "light" written on them. But it was too late. Sakura clapped her hands.

Sakura had her eyes closed. A powerful, bright spark of white light flashed with the collision of the two lanterns.

Sakura looked up. Sasuke staggered. He was blinded.

_Sometimes the most obvious and simplest technique is the best and most effective solution_.

Take away his eyes, his ability to read my movements, Sakura thought, and I can land a hit. One hit is all it takes.

She charged again. She was about to punch Sasuke, but he parried her attack!

He was blinded, truly blinded. Sakura could see that his pupils had shrunk, refracted by the light, but Sasuke could still hear her, feel her moving around him.

Sakura launched an outright full out attack. He parried them. Impossible! Sakura thought. Sasuke was using his other senses to keep up, but eventually, though mere attrition, and without his sight to guide him, Sakura created an elaborate fighting combo that made an opening. His chest became wide open.

"_Shannaro_!"

Sasuke flew like a lifeless, boneless rag doll across the ground, crashing against and destroying forest trees as he ricocheted in a cartwheel motion over three hundred meters. There was a loud crash. Trees that Sasuke hit began to collapse. After a while, the din and dust settled. There was silence.

Sakura was breathing hard. She hit him with all the strength she could muster.

"A direct hit," Katsuyu said. It moved its optic tentacles surveying the damage. "Is he—?"

"No," Sakura said. Her hand still had the residual feeling of Sasuke's sternum and rib cage giving way and collapsing as she punched him. The fractured bones alone should've punctured his lungs, his heart, his stomach, and done excessive damage to his vertebrae and all the nerves that run down the spinal cord. His whole chest caved in. And with the blunt force and crashing against objects, Sasuke should've faced instant death. "Any ninja would be dead, but not Sasuke-kun."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Sakura said.

Sending chakra to her feet, Sakura sprung herself to the trees and began to move

"Sakura, aren't you going to finish this?" Katsuyu asked.

"No," Sakura said. "I never intended to kill him. When Naruto comes back, Naruto and I will have our day of reckoning with Sasuke, but right now I'm concerned about Shikamaru and the others."

"What are you going to do?"

"We're going to the barrier. Once inside, I'll use a reverse _kuchioyose_ to get everyone inside. We'll be safe from Danzo and his army then. Ten-Ten, Temari and I will reinforce the barrier from the inside, and after that, I'll heal the survivors."

"What of Sasuke?"

"He has Jugo's abilities. He can heal himself, but it'll take time and massive amounts of chakra. He'll be fine, but I doubt he will dare take on Danzo and his armies in his weakened state. My main objective had always been to incapacitate him and keep him and Danzo in check."

Sakura reached into her pouch, took out a soldier pill, and ate it.

She sprung from tree to tree, branch to branch, and she knew she was near the barrier when she suddenly noticed lightning hawks flying parallel to her, flanking her on both sides.

"Sakura-sama!" Katsuyu cried.

The lightning hawks zipped toward her. Sakura jumped and dodged them. There was a large explosion as the hawks crashed against the trees. Fire began to consume to the tree tops.

Sakura landed on the ground.

"We're not done."

Sakura turned around and her eyes widened in horror.

Sasuke emerged from the trees' shadows, fully healed. Sakura realized it wasn't an apparition because his tattered clothes were drenched in blood and sweat.

Fear began to grip Sakura's heart. How the hell did he get here so fast?

Sasuke channeled lightning into his hand and made a jab in the air. Lightning hawks sprung out of his Chidori orb, and they flew around him. Sharingan activated, Sasuke directed them toward Sakura. They flew at her, but she dodged them—just barely.

Sakura breathed hard. She had never dodged anything that was lightning-fast before, and it was consuming vast amounts of chakra.

She only had one soldier pill left.

"Dodge this," Sasuke said.

The tomoes in his Sharingan began to spin. He formed his star Sharingan, his Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke closed his right eye.

"_AMATERASU_!"

Sakura saw the incoming black flames. She sent chakra to her feet and jumped back at high speed. The onyx flames expanded. Fear began to paralyze Sakura's limbs.

There was no way I can dodge this! Sakura thought. She placed her arms in front of her, trying to shield herself. She knew the move was worthless and hopeless.

"SAKURA-SAMA!" Katsuyu cried.

The flames enveloped and consumed Sakura.

The jet-black fire crackled and burned with great intensity.

Sasuke wiped away his tears of blood.

A large Katsuyu clone emerged from the black flames. The flames, no longer in pursuit, didn't go after the slug.

Sakura emerged from Katsuyu. There was a loud puff of smoke and Katsuyu turned itself into a smaller clone and settled itself on Sakura's shoulder.

"Sakura-sama," Katsuyu whispered in Sakura's ear, "I may have survived the burning intensity of the Kyubi's chakra, and Pain's _Shinra Tensei_, but these infernal flames hurt me. I can no longer protect you. If we're hit with _Amaterasu_ again, both of us will die."

Sakura looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke smiled.

"There have been only two shinobi that have survived my _Amaterasu_: Killerbee and Madara. You've just joined an elite and exclusive circle. I must admit, you're far from the annoying and hapless girl from years ago. You're truly a shinobi to be reckoned with, Sakura."

Sakura didn't say anything. She pointed at Sasuke with her index finger. "One," she said. She took out two kunai from her pouch. She launched one to a tree to her left: "Two." She launched the other to a tree to her right: "Three." She slammed her heel to the earth and the earth buckled underneath her strength: "Four."

Right where the kunai landed and the cracked earth ended, shadow clones emerged.

"You're in perfect formation to carry out a powerful jutsu far more dangerous than _Amaterasu_ to kill me," Sakura said. "Why haven't you?"

Sasuke said nothing.

Both shinobi stared at each other for a long time.

"Your former master," Sakura said, "was cruel, wasn't he? It's about time, isn't it? Had Orochimaru taken over your body, he would be preparing to transfer to a new vessel right about now."

Sakura took deep breaths, trying to calm herself and regain control of her emotions. Only a few minutes before, she thought she was facing her impending death.

"I know why you're here now."

Sasuke's expression didn't change.

"When did you figure it out?"

"It took me a while," Sakura said. "Your little test with your ninja sidekicks, your inquiry about my medical jutsu, the fact that Jugo highlighted my medical expertise, and, of course, the fact that your woman revealed I was the only one that could help you."

"She's not my woman."

Sakura looked intently at Sasuke.

"It doesn't matter what kind of relationship you have with her," Sakura said. "What matters here is what you attempted to do with me—you wanted to corner me, to force me to do something against my will, and through it all, you wanted me to believe you could be capable of showing mercy."

Sasuke said nothing.

"You're dying, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. "I know that now. After we encountered you in Orochimaru's lair, I consulted with Tsunade-sama and she speculated that Orochimaru and Kabuto had given you drugs, experimented on your body so your power, jutsu, and strength could increase ten fold. Tsunade-sama was right, wasn't she? You never cared about your future, your life—you only envisioned carrying out your revenge. And you placed your body on the line to do it. Orochimaru and Kabuto only cared about these past three years because after three years your body would've become expendable. Orochimaru would've been forced to move on to another host. And now you're left with the consequences of their experiments: you're rotting."

Sakura looked at the shadow clone to her right. It vanished. She looked to her left, and the clone vanished as well. She then looked at the real Sasuke, and she heard the puff explosion as the shadow clone behind her vanished as well.

"It was that kuniochi, wasn't it?" Sakura said. "She's healed you after I hit you. But look at you. You're already running a fever. Your hands are trembling. Chidori is already doing a number to your nervous system. And no matter how many times that kuniochi heals you, or how many times that big ninja lends you his limbs and power, everything atrophies. The more powerful jutsu you use, the more you physically exert your body and accelerate your disease. And now you've come here hoping that perhaps I can do something to stop the decay. You were so willing to throw your life away, but now you're here trying to preserve it."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and gave a terrifying intent to kill. He was furious.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Which way is it going to be?"

Sakura's eyes became glossy.

"You still don't get it, do you, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said. "It would've been far easier for you to have been frank with me. You should've told me the truth from the very beginning."

"Would you have healed me if I had asked you to? Even if you knew that I was after your Hokage's head? Even if you knew that my ultimate goal is to destroy Konoha?"

Sakura tightened her jaw.

"Yes. No. I don't know. The point is our protracted battle has allowed Danzo's army to kill my allies, my _friends_. Sasuke-kun, this isn't about us and our history anymore; this is about something that's bigger than you, me—us."

Sasuke's intent to kill didn't wane.

"Are you going to heal me?"

"I've sacrificed so much in this battle," Sakura said. "It's your turn to sacrifice. What will it be, Sasuke-kun? You willing to compromise?"

Sasuke said nothing. He looked left and then right.

"We're at a perfect distance," Sasuke said. "The battle with Danzo is over there, and the civilians are over here. Which ones are you willing to let live?"

Sakura was momentarily speechless.

"You're mad, you know that?"

They stared at each other.

"So, which ones will it be?"

Sakura wanted to tear her hair out of their roots.

"Why! Why won't you tell me why you're doing this? Why won't you say anything to me? You come here demanding to be healed, yet you shut me out!"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Sasuke retorted. "I've told you this before: I follow a different path than you. My heart chose revenge a long time ago. I live for that purpose. And I can't die before I complete my goal. I would've never come to you like this had things turned out differently, but I'm here, and if you refuse, then you leave me no choice but to force you. And I'll hit you where it hurts most till you capitulate."

Sakura wiped away her tears.

"If that's the way things are going to be, then know this, Sasuke-kun: I'd rather die than help you," Sakura said, tightening her fists, assuming her battle stance. "I know you're stronger than me, and I can't hope to defeat you even in your weakened sate, but I do know that I'm capable of hurting you, wounding you, and making your disease accelerate. And if I can, and if you give me even a miniscule opening, I will kill you."

Sasuke assessed her once again.

"I see," Sasuke said. "I have many jutsu, but as long as that slug is there to protect you like it did with _Amaterasu_...You should be proud Sakura. Few shinobi ever get to see this jutsu. But I will destroy you, your citizens, your friends, all of the clans, and Danzo—all in one go."

Sakura felt goose bumps as a cold and sinister chakra was exponentially accumulating. She was overwhelmed by it. What is this? Sakura thought.

"Sakura-sama," Katsuyu said, becoming increasingly worried, "this chakra and aura is dangerous. It's just as bad as the Kyubi's."

It was clear, ghost-like—an ethereal figure. Its limbs and body gradually began to form.

Sakura shot a furtive glance at Sasuke and she saw that his eyes were becoming clear.

"This is the third and final Sharingan technique," Sasuke said. "And the most powerful."

Sakura glanced up again and saw how the ethereal figure gained shape—it had a large rib cage that protected Sasuke. Its face was skull-like, but gradually a large horn-like nose emerged. Skeletal arms began to shape and give form. One hand contained a bottle gourd, the other a shield.

"No!" Katsuyu cried. "This can't be!"

"What is it?" Sakura said, panicking.

"It's Susanoo!" Katsuyu cried. "Run, Sakura-sama! Run! You have no hope of defeating Susanoo! Sasuke is now invincible! Run! We need to get out of here!"

Sakura's green eyes—wide with terror—looked at the figure. She was uncertain of what to do.

"You've heard Katsuyu," Sasuke said. "What will it be, Sakura? Susanoo can destroy your pathetic barrier and kill your civilians, or it can kill Danzo and destroy your allies. Which ones will you let live, and which ones will you condemn to death?"

Sakura's eyes began to release tears in spite of herself.

Sasuke smiled.

"Life's full of tough choices, isn't it?" Sasuke said. "You want to become Hokage, these are the type of decisions you will have to make. Choose."

Sakura looked down at the ground. She wiped away her tears. Tears weren't going to help her.

"Katsuyu," Sakura said, "is Susanoo a summon like you?"

"_Hai_," Katsuyu said. "But Sakura-sama we must flee!"

"You're not going anywhere," Sasuke said.

"No," Sakura said, "we're not."

Susanoo took out a large blade from his bottle gourd.

Sakura took the small slug clone from her shoulder and placed it on the ground.

"Tell Shikamaru and everyone to forgive me," Sakura ordered Katsuyu.

Placing her hand on top of the small clone, she cried out, "_Kuchiyose no jutsu_!"

Sakura summoned back all of Katsuyu's small clones. The massive, singular slug appeared. Sakura was on top of Katsuyu's head.

"Sakura-sama," Katsuyu said, "what do you hope to accomplish?"

Sakura took the Sacred Scroll of Sealing behind her back. She opened the scroll and laid it on Katsuyu's head.

"He's a summon, a demon," Sakura said. "A long time ago Tsunade-sama sent me on a mission to seal the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle, but we failed. Tsunade-sama used the Fourth Hokage's sealing technique and rewrote it to seal the Tailed-Beast. Her sealing jutsu is right here. Divide Katsuyu and corner Susanoo. I need you to be the medium to channel my chakra."

"Sakura-sama, please," Katsuyu protested, "Susanoo's at the Kyubi's level in raw power. Please, Sakura-sama. Don't do this! You can die sealing this creature! _Please_!"

"Do as I tell you!" Sakura screamed. "And do it now!"

"_Hai_," Katsuyu said lamentably. From underneath its belly, several clones began to divide. They conglomerated into three other separate clones, along with the original, forming a square around Susanoo.

"Whatever you're trying to do," Sasuke said, "it's useless."

Sasuke looked in the direction of the large barrier that protected the civilians.

Susanoo's large blade began to elongate, like Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword, and it soon hit the barrier. The blade touched the barrier and the barrier buckled with the sword's power. It shattered. People began to scream as the sword descended upon them.

Sakura bit her thumb, ran blood across the scroll, and placed her hands on the Sacred Scroll of Sealing. Concentrating, she began to release her chakra.

A large, circular net began to emerge from the four slug clones. The net became a dome above Susanoo. Sakura did a series of seals and changed the nature of the pink and blue net into the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier. The kanji at the dome's apex changed to "BIND." Immediately the net changed into a sphere that ensnared Susanoo.

"It's useless," Sasuke said.

Susanoo withdrew the sword from the people and, using its shield, Susanoo slammed it against the net. The barrier began to waver. The shield began to absorb the barrier's power.

Sakura increased the flow of chakra into Katsuyu and the barrier began to become solid again, but the absorption rate of Susanoo's shield was faster. As Sakura replenished the barrier, Susanoo absorbed it.

"Sakura-sama!" Katsuyu screamed.

The barrier was almost completely destroyed. It was vanishing before Sakura's eyes.

It looks like I have no choice, Sakura thought.

The diamond on Sakura's forehead began to glow. Rivulets of chakra began to pour out of the diamond, zigzagging across her forehead, down her eyes, beneath her jaw.

The scroll became ablaze with Sakura's chakra.

The net reformed itself, became solidly strong, and although Susanoo's shield was still absorbing it, Sakura's chakra was replenishing the shield at a faster rate than the shield could absorb.

The barrier sphere began to constrict. Soon, there was a large solid sphere that had the kanji "BIND" that completely enshrouded Susanoo.

Sakura was sealing Susanoo.

Susanoo's sword broke through the barrier. It was using both the shield to absorb the barrier's power and the sword to destroy it.

Sakura couldn't keep up.

"Sakura-sama!" Katsuyu cried out in alarm.

Sakura collapsed in exhaustion.

The barrier broke.

Katsuyu vanished.

Sakura was falling head first.

Falling.

Falling.

Sakura managed to move herself in midair to land on her back. She hit the ground with a loud thud and she groaned in pain. She looked up at Susanoo and saw that it too began to vanish. She wasn't able to seal Susanoo. It was too strong. She had only forced Sasuke to cancel the jutsu.

"You're out of chakra," Sasuke said, emerging from the shadows, walking toward her. Underneath both eyes were rivulets of fresh crimson blood. He had cried tears and tears of blood.

"So are you," Sakura said, slowly getting up.

"Not quite."

Sasuke lifted his arm, made a fist, and lightning fizzed from his fist to his elbow.

Sakura attempted to flee, but every part of her body was in pain. She almost collapsed, but managed to hoist herself against a tree. Sasuke impaled Sakura with Chidori spears, pinning her against the tree. Sakura—panicking—looked frantically all over the forest. Naruto, she thought, eyes welling, scanning haphazardly her surroundings, where are you? If there is ever a moment for you to show up, this is it. Naruto…_please_.

"Even now," Sasuke said, standing before Sakura, "you still wait for him to come and rescue you, don't you?" Sasuke's black eyes prodded Sakura's green eyes with stoic skepticism. "Give it up. He won't come. He can't."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean?"

"I ran into him six months ago."

Sakura's eyes widened. Her lower lip trembled.

"Don't worry," Sasuke said, "I didn't kill him." He smiled. "I didn't have to. He was virtually dead when I found him."

"You're lying!"

"Sakura, Sakura," Sasuke said, "I'm a lot of things, but I'm no liar."

There was a fierce determination in Sakura's eyes. Her lower lip stop trembling and though in excruciating pain from the lightning blades, she refused to yield to Sasuke's words.

"Your feelings for Naruto are indelibly written in your eyes," Sasuke said. "Such faith. Deep trust. Limitless confidence." Sasuke looked down, Sharingan activated, at Sakura with a stoic countenance. "It would do you well to hide such emotions from your enemies. But, if you must know, he did finish what he set out to do. He kept his word, his promise. Be proud. He fought the good fight, but was unable to finish the race."

"I don't believe you!"

"Then look into my eyes," Sasuke said, "find out the Truth, and the Truth shall set you Free." The black tomoes began to rapidly twirl forming his Mangekyo Sharingan.

_Tsukuyomi_! Sakura thought. He still has this much power left?!


	12. Chapter 12, Aria

**Chapter XII – Aria**

_Tsukuyomi_.

Sakura knew she was in trouble. She looked at her environs and saw she was trapped in an illusionary world. She was in a dense forest, full of tall, thick pine trees, completely unlike the true world.

Sakura did a hand seal.

_Kai_! she said to herself.

It was useless. She couldn't break free.

_Tsukuyomi_'s used to cripple an opponent, Sakura thought. Why isn't Sasuke torturing me?

Sakura walked to a tree and touched it. All of her senses were in sync and eclipsed with the Genjutsu. She looked at the sky and was startled at what she saw. It was crimson. She turned north and felt a sinister chakra that paralyzed her. Biting her lower lip, she began to walk to the edge of the forest.

Sakura's eyes widened with shock and awe at what she saw: the forest ended in a sharp demarcation, but beyond was an endless crater as far as she could see. The earth was destroyed, cauterized, torn asunder like papier-mâché. The entrails of the earth—smoldering lava—flowed and ebbed across the ravaged terrain. The sky, red as blood, rained with heavy ash. Sakura covered her mouth. The air was dense, unbreathable. The heat unbearable. Her eyes followed the landscape and she saw a destroyed mountain range, and based on the markings, it looked like large claws had cleanly sliced through it.

What kind of battle took place? Sakura thought.

Sakura heard voices coming behind her. She turned around and saw Sasuke and his team walking along the edge of the forest.

"What the fuck's your problem!" Karin cried. "That was the last of our water!" She slapped Suigetsu hard across the face. His face didn't splash, but remained solid. Karin was parched. Suigetsu dehydrated. He was trying to conserve the little water he had. Jugo was sweating and uncomfortable. Sasuke walked unfazed.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Suigetsu said.

Sasuke took hold of his katana's handle.

"We're close," he said.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan.

"What the fuck, man," Suigetsu continued. "We've been traveling for days now."

The team came across the large crater. Suigetsu, Jugo, and Karin became quiet.

"What happened here?" Jugo asked.

Sasuke walked to Sakura and passed through her like if she was an apparition.

"A battle," Sasuke answered.

This is a memory, Sakura thought. Sasuke's memory. Why is he showing me this?

The team continued to walk along the forest. Sakura, hesitant at first, began to follow.

They walked and walked, until suddenly, Sakura heard the whimpering of a young woman. It was a soft voice. She was sure she recognized it, but she couldn't quite remember who it belonged to.

Sasuke's team stopped. The crying continued. Sakura walked right through.

There, standing a few meters away was Hinata Hyuga, crying, holding in her arms Naruto Uzumaki. He was lying on the floor in the middle of an ever-growing pool of blood. Sakura rushed to them. Kneeling next to Hinata, she immediately noticed what was wrong—Naruto's abdomen, the fox's seal, was broken. His whole stomach was wide open. The Nine-Tailed Fox had been released. And Naruto was now bleeding to death.

"No, no, no," Sakura cried. I must close the wound, she thought. I must close the seal—I know how to do it! I learned about seals with the Sacred Scroll of Sealing.

Sakura placed her hands above Naruto's abdomen and attempted to channel chakra, but it wouldn't work. What's wrong?! her mind raced.

"It's not going to work," she heard Sasuke whisper in her ear. She turned around, but Sasuke wasn't there. It was a disembodied voice.

"This already happened," Sasuke continued. "There's nothing you can do."

"Heal," Sakura said. She looked at her hands, concentrating on her chakra flow. She wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to let Naruto die. "Heal."

"It's useless. This is only an illusion—_my_ illusion, _my_ memory. You can't do anything."

"Heal."

"He's not real. This is just a projection of a past event."

"Heal."

Why wouldn't her healing jutsu work?

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried. "Please, Naruto-kun! Don't leave me! Please!" She furrowed her head into his shoulder. Naruto's slightly opened his eyes, encouraged by her voice. His eyes were dilated. He was weak. His life was leaving him. He feebly raised his hand and placed it on Hinata's head.

Hinata continued to weep.

"_Heal_," Sakura cried, eyesight blurred with tears.

"Now you know," Sasuke's overhead voice said, "what happened to your hero."

"I SAID _HEAL_, DAMN IT!" Sakura cried. Her hands began to glow in green chakra.

"What is this?" Sasuke's voice said, surprised. "You're overpowering _Tsukuyomi_! Impossible!"

Sakura had activated her medical jutsu, but beneath her hands, though she could clearly see Naruto's raw, open wound, his viscera, she felt nothing but empty space. There was no wound to heal, no blood to clot, no seal to close.

Sakura covered her face with her hands and wept.

She heard the heavy footsteps of Sasuke approaching. She looked up at him. Sharingan activated, Sasuke looked down at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes, though weak, focused on Sasuke.

"So this is how you keep your word?" Sasuke said.

Excruciating pain on his face, Naruto said, "I. Never. Go. Back. On. My. Word."

Sasuke narrowed his Sharingan eyes.

"Humph," he said.

Sasuke and his team began to walk away.

"What happened?" Karin said, walking up to Sasuke.

"Naruto just killed Madara," Sasuke replied. "He beat us to it."

Sakura looked back at Naruto, but everything around her was fading to black, like someone had turned the lights off in a theatre stage.

"No!" Sakura cried. "No! Naruto! Naruto!"

The whole world swirled, her body contorting like she was in an invisible roller coaster. She was suddenly on a road. She looked around her, and in the distance, she could clearly see the full moon and the Hokages' profiles carved on a mountain. She was in Konoha. It was night. Crickets were chirping. Suddenly, she saw her own self—many years younger, as a Genin—standing right before her. Sasuke was walking toward her.

_What are you doing here so late at night_? Sasuke said, pausing right before her. _Just out for a stroll_?

_In order to leave this village_, young Sakura replied, _you have to take this road_.

Sasuke began to walk around her.

_Go home and sleep_.

"Why did you bring me here?" Sakura cried. She didn't want to relive the memory again. "Take me back! What happened to Naruto?! Tell me! I want to see him!"

Young Sakura began to weep.

_Why_? young Sakura cried.

Like a movie, the memory continued to play.

_Why won't you say anything to me_? young Sakura demanded. _Why do you shut everyone out_? _Why won't you tell me anything_?

_Why do I have to tell you_? Sasuke retorted. He stopped walking away. _I'm telling you that you meddle too much_. _Stop bothering me all the time_.

Young Sakura looked down.

_You always act like you hate me_, _Sasuke-kun_, Sakura said. _Do you remember_? _When we became Genin_…

"Why are you showing me this?" Sakura cried up to the sky. "Why?"

"You once wanted to know what made me what I am," Sasuke's voice replied.

"Stop it," Sakura cried. "Stop it!"

Young Sakura stepped forward, tears in eyes. _ I_ _have family and friends_, Sakura cried out to Sasuke. _But if you leave_, _for me_…_To me it's the same thing as being alone_. _I love you more than anything_! _If you are by my side_, _I will make sure that you will not regret it_. _I will make everyday more enjoyable_, _and you will be happy_! _I would do anything for you_! _That's why_…_I beg you_! _Please stay here_! _I will help you with your revenge_! _There must be something I can do_! _That's why_…_please_, _stay here with me_…_If that's not possible, please take me with you_…

"This time," Sasuke's voice, coming from the sky, an omnipotent presence, said, "I'll take you with me."

The world began to reshape and reform again. Sakura saw a young Sasuke standing right before her. He was carried his school bag across his shoulder and was looking up at the full moon. She was in a part of Konoha she had never seen before, in a neighborhood that no longer existed. It was the Uchiha neighborhood. She had known of its existence as a child, but she had never been allowed to visit. Sasuke stood alone, in a desolate corridor. He was nervous, visibly afraid, uncertain of what was going on. His face contorted in horror as he came across dead bodies of the Uchiha. Sasuke ran. Sakura went after him. As he ran, he came across endless bodies of people. Some were stabbed with spears, others with blades. Sakura's heart beat rapidly, not because she was running, but because of the fear of seeing such devastating horror. Sasuke came to his house. He took off his shoes and wandered room by room, calling out to his parents. He then came to a door and was afraid to open it. He did. His parents were lying across the floor, dead. Blood was everywhere. Itachi Uchiha emerged from the shadows. He used the power of the Sharingan on Sasuke, and Sakura, who was standing next to Sasuke, felt the power of the illusion as well. She experienced with Sasuke the vision of Itachi killing everyone. One by one the Uchiha members fell. Sasuke screamed as Itachi murdered his Aunt and Uncle. Suddenly, they were in the room with Sasuke's parents. Itachi held his blade aloft, ready to strike.

"Stop!" Sakura screamed. She couldn't envision such horror anymore. She closed her eyes.

"Don't close your eyes!" Sasuke whispered in Sakura's ear. "I didn't."

Sakura's pupils dilated. She saw Itachi strike his own parents.

Sakura stood motionless. Tears ran down her face.

Sasuke let Sakura live everything he lived—Madara telling him of Konoha's origins; the planned coup de etat; Itachi as a double agent; his orders to kill his own clan; Danzo and the Elders complicit in the Uchiha massacre.

Sakura curled into a fetal position. She was amazed by all she saw and heard.

Sasuke appeared before her, as calm as ever, without a trace of emotion in his face.

"Konoha _will_ burn to the ground," he told her. "Now you know why."

Sakura didn't respond. How could she respond?

"You once said that you would help me with my revenge. Tell me, what's your answer?"

Sakura thought for a while.

"No," she replied. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. I can't."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sasuke said. "I'd thought you'd understand."

"I do, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, "I do. But you can't punish people for sins of the past, for sins they have nothing to do with."

Sasuke vanished.

Two large, red pupils appeared over the horizon. Everything—except for the eyes—turned black. Sakura was enveloped in darkness.

"Then I will make myself very plain," Sasuke said. "Heal me, or die."

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, looking up. "Sorry about everything. But I can't. I won't."

"I thought we could come to an agreement. I now see we can't."

Sakura saw visions flowing below her feet. They were her memories, those hidden in the most profound crevices of her subconsciousness. How was he accessing this? Sakura thought in horror.

"My Genjtsu reveals your deepest fears and secrets," Sasuke said.

Sakura tried to stop Sasuke from accessing her thoughts, but everything proved futile. She saw and relived the explosion that killed Choji and Ino. She saw the Jonin uprising against Danzo, their defeat, and their execution. Kakashi. Kurenai. Gai. Dead. She relived how Danzo used their friends as human shields and how her group of shinobi had no choice but to retreat. Danzo taunted her, calling her out. He suddenly emerged with a man and a woman. Each were at his sides.

"Mom! Dad!" Sakura screamed.

Danzo raised his blade. He beheaded Sakura's parents.

"AAAAHHHH!" Sakura screamed. She tried in vain to muffle her sobs by covering her mouth with her hands. She was hysterical. Broken. She felt actual physical pain, the greatest pain she had ever felt in her life. She rocked herself back and forth like a child seeking comfort.

Sasuke released his Genjutsu.

He looked down at her.

"He did that to your parents?" Sasuke asked. He cried tears of blood.

Sasuke collapsed in exhaustion. He had burned through most of his chakra. He fell in front of Sakura.

Sakura looked up, and for the first time since they had reencountered each other, they both looked into each other's eyes.

The stared at each other for a long time.

Sakura raised her hand. She channeled chakra to it. It began to glow. She slowly eased her hand in the middle of Sasuke's chest, above his sternum. Purple-black spots, like freckles, began to appear.

Sasuke was surprised.

"My disease," he said. "You're removing it. Why?"

"Because," Sakura said, "I loved you once." Her eyes looked into Sasuke's. "I still do. In spite of all your faults, or rather, precisely because of them. I grew up in such a mundane and ordinary home. My world was completely normal until I met you. I hoped to one day give you what I had—friendship, companionship, love, a sense of family—but now I see what I've always suspected and feared about you is undeniably true."

"And what is that?"

"That you and happiness are incompatible."

"Happiness…Peace…Love…they could all be knocking at your door, but you'd never let them in. You can't bear the vague possibility of being happy. Of letting yourself be consumed by it. But you do deserve happiness, Sasuke-kun, you do. If there's anyone that deserves it, it's you. Tell me, have you ever loved someone?"

Sasuke didn't reply.

"I see," Sakura said. "I have. Rather, I do. I have loved and been loved. You and Naruto. A world of a difference."

Sakura ran her hands across Sasuke's chest.

"Thank you for letting me know what happened to Naruto. In my mind and heart, he's alive and with me always."

Sasuke didn't know what to say. He let Sakura heal him.

"Come with me. Avenge your parents."

"No," Sakura said. "The past is the past. I've learned to put it behind me, and I've learned to reconcile myself with it. I don't dwell on it. What for? I live for the future and for its endless possibilities. That's why I was willing to challenge Danzo to be Hokage. Not for revenge. Revenge is futile. I learned that from Naruto: he let Pain live though Pain had killed Jiraya. But Naruto's gone now."

Sakura leaned in into Sasuke. She placed one hand on his sternum, and the other on the base of his back.

"This is going to hurt," she said. She began to extricate the disease from his tissues. The process was intense.

Sasuke collapsed into Sakura's arms.

"To think," Sakura said, "I've held you like this so many times."

She thought about the time during the battle with Haku, when she thought Sasuke was dead, how she had embraced his body. She thought about the time in the Forest of Death, after Orochimaru had given Sasuke the Cursed Seal and she was left alone to fend for them both. His confrontation with Lee and how he had fallen and she had run out to capture him. And now she had him in an embrace once again. He didn't protest. It felt so good to have him close.

"I'm completely vulnerable," Sasuke said. "I can't move. If you're going to kill me, you better do it now. Because if you don't, you may live to regret it."

"How can you say such a thing?" Sakura said. She began to run her hands over Sasuke's back, grazing his skin, reconnecting broken chakra channels to his kidneys, vertebrae, nerves. "Even if I wanted to," Sakura continued, "I couldn't bring myself to. You're all I have left."

Sakura continued to reconnect the broken chakra channels to Sasuke's organs. When she was finally done, she looked once again into his eyes.

"This gift is personal, of my free will." Sakura placed her hands over Sasuke's eyes. Her hands glowed. She removed them. "Look at me, Sasuke-kun. Please. I want you to see me clearly, remember me as I am right now, so that when you're an old man, an old man whose battle and glory days are long over and you're sitting on a rocker somewhere, surrounded by your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and have completed every goal you've set out to do in life, you will remember seeing clearly this fool in front of you, this fool who instead of fearing you, hating you, all could really do was love you."

Sakura smiled at Sasuke. She recalled how long ago, just after Sasuke had left the village to join Orochimaru, she had gone to her house and locked herself in her bedroom. She wept. Concerned, her mother knocked and asked to be let in. When Sakura opened the door, Sakura collapsed in her mother's arms and confessed her love of Sasuke to her. Her mother smiled. _Why are you smiling, mom?_ she cried. _It's not funny!_ Her mother embraced her. _Sakura_, her mother told her, _do you think men love the way we do?_ Sakura became confused. She didn't understand the question, much less how to answer it. Her mother removed the tear-clumped strands of hair away from her eyes. _The answer is 'No,' my child_... _Men enjoy the happiness they feel_. _We women only enjoy the happiness we give_.

Sakura was happy. She hadn't been this happy in such a long time.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, "you'll never go blind again."

Sakura stood up, wiped away the grass and dirt from her knees.

"Be merciful," she said, taking several steps away from Sasuke, giving her back to him. "When you invade Konoha, place the citizenry to sleep. That's all I ask for in return for healing you. No one deserves to see their parents die in front of them, nor do any parents deserve to see their children slaughtered. As for the shinobi…they will defend the village at all costs, but we both know what shinobi signed up for the day they graduated from the Academy."

Sakura heard Sasuke's shuffling. He stood up.

"You will let Konoha rot?"

"Danzo needs to be stopped," Sakura said. "It's that simple. He and Konoha are inextricably linked now. His campaigns kill innocents every day." Sakura nodded in a "no" fashion. "And without Naruto, there's no hope. No atonement for what was once our home. This is as far as I go. I realize now that I was never strong enough to defeat Danzo. But you are. And so, I send you in my stead.

"It's over," Sakura said, looking at the red-orange sun over the horizon. "It's finally over." She heard Sasuke's feet shift. He took steps toward her. He stopped right behind her. She could feel him. "Kill me quick."

She closed her eyes. She wanted everything to be over.

"Sakura Haruno," Sasuke said, "you are a fool!"

Sakura felt Sasuke tug at her hair, and suddenly, she felt the world fold within itself. Is this a time/space jutsu? she thought.

She was suddenly standing before a battlefield, bodies lying everywhere. Sasuke pushed her to the ground and she fell into a man's arms.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru said, shocked.

"Shikamaru?" Sakura cried.

She looked around her. There were only thirty-six ninjas left. She turned to Sasuke. Several of Konoha's ninjas who had charged began to take step backs.

Sasuke did a seal and lightning eagles began to form from his body Chidori nagashi. They grew and grew. Their wing span extended over seven feet. Sasuke did another seal and the eagles burst into flames.

Sasuke pointed to the opposing ninjas.

The Lightning-Fire Eagles descended across enemy lines like meteors, leaving a fiery streak of crimson behind them. They crashed. Exploded. They set ablaze all what they touched. Mushroom clouds registered the impact. Konoha's shinobi screamed in agony. Order disintegrated. Pandemonium reigned.

Sasuke touched his abdomen with his hands, and running them up his stomach, he belched and opened his mouth. A small snake's head protruded from his esophagus and leaned against his tongue. It hissed. The snake opened its mouth wide, revealing its poisonous fangs. Slowly, a sword's handle began to come out from the snake's entrails until a full katana blade emerged—Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword. Sasuke took the Kusanagi sword, wielding it in front of him, ready for battle.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried, awestruck by Sasuke's power, "what're you doing?"

"You want a hero," Sasuke said, his Mangekyo Sharingan spinning, ablaze like a demon's eyes, "I'll give you a hero."

[Thank you for your reviews! They have been so encouraging! I apologize if Sasuke-Sakura isn't your cup of tea, but this is the way I envisioned this story. One more chapter to go and this story comes to an end. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. ]


	13. Chapter 13, The Clash of the NeoSannin

**Chapter XIII – The Clash of the Neo-Sannin**

Konoha's ninjas were visibly nervous. They maintained a measurable distance from Sasuke Uchiha, a sign of respect for his clan's notorious name and reputation, yet they remained close to engage with offensive maneuvers. Konoha's ninjas knew they had a duty to fulfill, in spite of any reservations they may have facing an Uchiha.

Shikamaru took Sakura's arm and pulled her to him.

"What's going on?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura said. She looked in the distance and saw Danzo enthroned in a golden contraption, surrounded by masked ANBU ninja from the Foundation and several members of the Hyuga clan. Sakura looked at Sasuke. Sasuke was a terribly talented ninja, but even Sakura knew he would have difficulty reaching Danzo. Sasuke had already burned through most of his chakra fighting her, and to attempt to kill Danzo, a powerful shinobi in his own right, along with his bodyguards from the Foundation and the Hyuga Clan, would be, in all conceivable scenarios, sheer madness.

Sakura stood up.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura ignored Shikamaru and walked to Sasuke. She stood next to him.

"I don't need your help," Sasuke said.

"I know."

Side by side, Sasuke and Sakura stared at Danzo.

"What happened to Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura looked down to the ground. She hesitated. She didn't want to relive the memory.

"Danzo needed the Jonin vote to become Hokage," Sakura said, raising her eyes at Danzo again. "Several Jonin disagreed. They dissented. They rallied around Kakashi as an alternative. There was an internal Jonin war. We lost Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai, Iruka, and many more. Those who managed to survive defected and came here, with me."

Sasuke gripped his katana handle. His eyes had become red, his Sharingan permanently activated.

"I will kill everyone in sight," he said. "I promised you that. But if you and your allies retreat, I will not follow."

Sasuke took several steps forward but stopped walking when Shikamaru, along with Kiba, Shino, and Neji, deliberately blocked his path between Danzo and Konoha's ninjas.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"We can't allow you to kill everyone," Shikamaru said. "Those people back there are our our blood." Shikamaru quickly glanced to the opposing side and looked at his father. "We won't stand idly by as you attempt to wipe them out."

Sasuke turned to Sakura.

"Sakura," he said.

"This isn't your war, Sasuke," Shikamaru continued. "Stay out of it."

Sakura stepped forward and stood between Sasuke and Shikamaru.

"Danzo's responsible for the Uchiha massacre," Sakura said.

Shikamaru was visibly surprised, but he quickly understood.

"I'm sorry," Shikamaru said to Sasuke, "but this is our family. We don't see eye to eye at the moment, but blood is blood. We can't break our family bonds."

"Then I'll break them for you," Sasuke said, stepping forward, reaching for his katana.

Sasuke unsheathed his katana but Sakura took hold of his hand.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura pleaded. "_Please_."

Sasuke's Sharingan eyes gazed at her momentarily, probing. He said, "If you want them to live, get them out of my sight."

Sakura walked toward Shikamaru and looked at Konoha's ninjas. They had all heard Sasuke's words. Everyone held their ground.

"Stand down, everyone," Sakura told her allies and Konoha's ninjas.

Some raised their weapons, others readied their hands to commence their jutsu techniques.

A pause. A creeping fear slithered its way up Sakura. What have I done? Sakura thought. I've made a terrible mistake! I should've never healed Sasuke! Shikamaru and the others will engage with him if he attempts to strike their clans, and Konoha's ninja won't back down. We'll all get slaughtered fighting one another if I don't do something quick.

Sasuke stared at Shikamaru. Neither budged.

"I tire of this," Sasuke said. He continued to walk toward the group and pushed Shikamaru out of his way. Suddenly, he stopped walking.

"Remove. Your. Jutsu."

Shikamaru had paralyzed Sasuke with his shadow technique.

Shikamaru refused to comply.

"Sasuke, don't!" Sakura protested.

Sasuke turned his head.

Sweat poured down Shikamaru's temples. For all his concerted efforts, Shikamaru's eyes widened in disbelief as Sasuke continued to move as if nothing were holding him back.

"Last chance," Sasuke warned.

Kiba, Shino, and Neji placed themselves before Shikamaru. If Sasuke wanted to get to Shikamaru, he would have to get through them.

Saske raised his katana.

"SASUKE," Sakura pleaded desperately, "STOP!"

Sasuke swung his weapon.

_BOOM_!

There was a loud explosion.

After the dust and din settled, there was a massive toad, clad in full armor, blocking Sasuke's katana from harming Shikamaru and the others. There was a young man standing on top of the toad's head.

"_Always so dramatic, eh, Sasuke_?"

Sakura released an audible gasp. He had grown taller. He was more muscular now, and his face had aged. Naruto, Sakura thought. A sad smile came to her lips. Tears welled in her eyes. What must have you gone through these past three years?

"Didn't they tell you that the hero always appears at the end?" Naruto said, staring down at Sasuke. "What are you trying to do, steal my thunder?"

Sasuke withdrew his katana.

"Thunder?" Sasuke said. "How about I give you some lightning!"

Sasuke gathered lightning in the palm of his hand and slashed the air. A Chidori blade protruded and elongated from his hand toward Naruto.

With effortless grace, Naruto created a Rasengan infused with the wind element in the palm of his hand. He thrust the Rasengan toward the lightning blade. The Chidori blade split in two.

After the din and dust settled, Naruto said, "Haven't changed one bit, have you, Sasuke?"

"Hmph," Sasuke said. "I see that not even defeating Madara has made you a better ninja. You had an opening and you didn't even bother to take it. You're still that idiot from the Ninja Academy."

Sasuke then quickly turned around and dashed toward Kiba. He grabbed Kiba by the throat and held him aloft. The tomoes of his Sharingan eyes began to turn wildly.

"Pathetic," Sasuke said. "So easily manipulated by the Sharingan." Sasuke let Kiba go and Kiba fell to the ground coughing. Shikamaru and Neji glared at Sasuke, but even in their glare, they were grateful that Sasuke had not opted to kill their comrade.

"If you expect someone else to do your work," Sasuke yelled across the battlefield toward Danzo, "then I suggest you come and do the dirty work yourself, you fucking coward! Prove yourself worthy to be called by the name 'Hokage!'"

Sakura stepped forward and raised her hand to her mouth. She saw a massive number of Naruto's Shadow Clones appear behind Danzo. With a nonverbal order, Sakura saw Danzo tell his bodyguards and entourage that he would handle the situation. Danzo stood up from his throne and withdrew his katana. With deadly precision, a precision that Sakura herself had felt firsthand, Danzo swiftly annihilated Naruto's Shadow Clones.

"He's fast," Naruto said. Surprised, Sakura turned and saw that Naruto was standing right next to her. She had never even noticed when Naruto had left the large toad to stand by her side. "His Sharingan," Naruto continued, "is almost as good as Madara's. It may even surpass Sasuke's."

Sakura turned and saw Danzo place his blade back into its sheath. Sasuke, who was standing right across Danzo, was seething with ire. His chakra was gradually changing. It was getting darker and darker, and even Sakura, who wasn't a sensory type shinobi, knew that his chakra levels were becoming as sinister as the tailed beasts.

"Take the wounded to a safe place," Naruto told Sakura. "They need you. Get them at least sixty miles away from here, but get them further away if you can. This landscape is about to change."

Sakura looked up at Naruto. There were so many emotions bubbling inside her heart, inexplicable emotions for a friend she had not seen in years…could she just leave him now after she had not seen him in such a long time?

Sakura turned to Sasuke. Sasuke's chakra continued to become darker and darker. She knew that two Titans in the shinobi world were about to clash and Naruto would be caught in the middle of it. Naruto was taking it upon himself to tame the two wild beasts. Sakura had left Naruto once before, when Naruto had left to get Sasuke when he had defected, but Sakura would not leave her friend. Not anymore. Not again.

"No," Sakura told Naruto. "Besides, I don't have chakra."

Naruto took Sakura's hand.

"Then have some of mine," Naruto told her.

Naruto's hand was rough. Calloused. It completely eclipsed her small hand. Sakura felt a strange feeling, almost like cool, refreshing water running down her entire body, as Naruto's chakra began to replenish her aching muscles and heal her wounds. She looked at her hands and arms and saw that her whole body was resplendent with chakra. Naruto had given her more than enough. So this is the power of Senjutsu, Sakura thought. She let go of Naruto's hand and, making several hand signs, she formed a seal. She gathered the excess chakra and locked it inside the diamond seal on her forehead. She was back at 100%.

"Hurry," Naruto said. He gave her a wan smile.

Sakura took several steps back and bit her thumb. She ran the blood down her forearm and after making several seals, she called forth Katsuyu.

"Sakura-sama!" Katsuyu cried. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Sakura said. "Divide and attach yourself to our allies. Take my chakra and heal them."

"_Hai_!" Katsuyu cried and immediately obeyed. Katsuyu clones attached themselves to Neji, Lee, Kiba, Ten-Ten, Temari, and the others.

Gradually, everyone began to retreat and left Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke at the forefront.

Naruto stepped forward and addressed Konoha's ninja.

"Everyone," Naruto said, "please stand down. I only want to speak to Hokage-sama."

Sakura's heart missed a beat. Hokage-sama? she thought. Surely Naruto knew the atrocities Danzo had committed; yet he still respected the Hokage's office that he was able to draw a distinction between the man and the office. Sakura was amazed. Her appreciation for her friend deepened.

Sakura saw as Danzo stepped down from his throne and walked towards them.

"There will be no such conversation between us, Uzumaki Naruto," Danzo said. Danzo snapped his fingers. "Hyugas, kill him."

A war waged on the faces of all the Hyuga clan and Konoha's ninjas. They all knew that if it weren't for Naruto, Pain would've leveled Konoha into the ground. Naruto had been the one who had brought stability to the village when he accompanied Jiraya to get Tsunade as Godaime Hokage. And who could forget that he placed Gaara in check when Orochimaru invaded Konoha? Konoha was indebted many times over to Naruto and every shinobi knew that Naruto was a future Hokage who loved Konoha as much, if not more, than they did and was willing to die for it.

"Do as I say," Danzo said, "or Hanabi dies."

The Hyuga clan was afraid. They set up their fighting stances. They were about to attack when suddenly a young woman's voice said, "That is enough."

Sakura turned around and behind her was Hinata and her younger sister, Hanabi.

"We were late," Naruto said, "because we had to stop at Konoha to rescue a prisoner."

Hinata stepped forward.

"The Hyuga clan," Hinata told Danzo, glaring directly into his eyes with her Byakugan, "are no longer under your control."

Quickly, all the Hyuga clan fled Danzo and jumped behind Hinata, reinforcing her.

Danzo smiled.

"Hinata!" Sakura screamed.

Sakura saw Danzo launch a deadly fire jutsu directly at Hinata. Sakura jumped forward to try to help her, but Naruto grabbed her wrist and held her back.

"Leave her," Naruto said. "She's much stronger now."

Sakura saw as Hinata twirled around in circles, gathering chakra, momentum, and then suddenly, she saw an explosion of chakra as two lions merged together into one massive lion, directly from Hinata's palms. The lion crashed into Danzo's fire jutsu. There was a loud explosion, but Hinata held her ground. Sakura quickly noticed, however, that Danzo's jutsu, in spite of being cancelled with Hinata's jutsu, had still managed to penetrate Hinata's defense and had seared her hands. Sakura whispered to Katsuyu and a Katsuyu clone immediately went to Hinata to attach itself to her.

"Get them out of here," Naruto reiterated to Sakura.

"No," Sakura said, "I'm staying."

"Sakura," Naruto insisted.

"You should listen to her," Sasuke said.

Sakura and Naruto were visibly surprised Sasuke had spoken on her behalf.

"You'll need someone to bring you back to life. Once I'm done with Danzo, you're next."

Naruto smiled.

"I see things haven't changed between us," Naruto said.

Sasuke glared at Naruto.

"No," Sasuke replied. His eyes then went back to Danzo.

"I'll get everyone out of here," Hinata offered. The Hyuga clan members picked up the still-injured ninjas that they had engaged with only a few moments before and began to retreat. Shikamaru gave Sakura a "be careful" look as he, along with everyone else, retreated.

"N-N-Naruto," Hinata began.

"I know," Naruto replied.

Hinata smiled.

"_Arigatou_," Hinata said and retreated with the ninjas.

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stood side by side as the three of them looked at Danzo and the Foundation ninjas.

"Many years ago," Danzo said, "Hanzo made the terrible mistake of letting your masters live." Danzo withdrew his sword. "I plan on not making that same mistake today."

It was as if time were erased. Sasuke and Naruto attacked in sync and in a matter of seconds, Sasuke paralyzed the Foundation ninjas by sending a Chidori current to the ground, and Naruto, creating massive number of Shadow Clones, quickly gripped each Foundation member and overwhelmed them with Sage chakra. They all were turned into toads.

Sasuke quickly aimed to engage with Danzo, but before Sasuke's sword could even hit Danzo, Danzo had already disappeared. He was several yards away, analyzing Sasuke and Naruto with his Sharingan.

Sakura stepped forward in between Naruto and Sasuke.

"We will need to attack together," Naruto said.

"I plan on doing no such thing," Sasuke retorted. "I will work alone."

"I was talking to Sakura," Naruto said.

Sasuke said nothing.

"Naruto," Sakura said, "thank you."

Danzo began to unwrap his bandaged arm and completely unwrapped the bandages around his head.

"Today I will get rid of the three biggest threats that keep me from accomplishing my dream of becoming Emperor," Danzo said. "When I'm through with the three of you, peace will finally come to the ninja world."

Readying himself, Danzo charged.

And so began the Clash of the Neo-Sannin against the Rokudaime of Konoha…

**THE END**

_Many, many thanks to all of you who have reviewed this story. Your reviews/constructive criticisms have made my first fanfiction writing experience worthwhile and for that, I thank each and every one of you._


	14. Addendum, A sequel in progress

To those of you who enjoyed _Clash of the Neo-Sannin_, I have decided to write a sequel. If you're interested, please visit my profile page to continue reading about Sakura's journey and encounters with Sasuke Uchiha.


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